One Bridge Apart
by Bluesunkatsuri
Summary: It's six years after Iris den Weerden and Madeline Greene have left their dreamworld behind, and the two have completely moved on. But things get complicated when their past haunts their every step once more. *sequel to The Fantasy* -rating for later chapters-
1. Introductions

**And here it is; the sequel to The Fantasy!**

**The two fics can be read seperately, but to really understand some things in this one, I recommend reading The Fantasy first.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

Reality and Fantasy have always been just One Bridge Apart.

But what happens when people from both worlds learn to cross that bridge?

It's six years after the Death Note world has been reverted again, and Iris den Weerden and Madeline Greene thought they had left their past lives behind, and completely moved on. But secrets of the past can't stay burried forever, and now, their memories are back to haunt their every step once again...

* * *

I got back home after a long day of work, and gratefully flopped down on my couch. Sometimes, I really longed for the good old times to be back, the time when I still lived with my parents, went to school and could just do what I wanted after I finished my homework. No, now I had to do everything myself. It was an amazing feeling of freedom, I'll give you that, but it was tiring. You might think that working as a librarian isn't that hard, right? well, you're wrong if you do. Or at least, it wasn't easy in my case. I had to start at nine A.M. and work 'til six P.M. The library opened at nine thirty in the morning, and close at five P.M. In the half hour before it opened, it was my duty to sort out the books, together with two other people, and after that, I had to answer questions from people, had to bring them to the right shelves if they couldn't find something they were looking for, answer incoming calls... sometimes I wondered if they didn't want a few more people there. It was just. Too. Busy.

Nut nice work, really. I was surrounded by books all day, and I absolutely loved books, fiction. A nice fantasy-roman, or action, and sometimes, a good horror story was exactly what a needed. Sci-fi wasn't really my thing, but I read that just the same. Drama, romance, crime, mystery, action... I loved it all. Because, had three years of my life not been a fantasy-novel itself? Okay, I'll admit, it hadn't really been fantasy. It had been a real life, in another world, another dimension. The Death Note world. I had gone there in my dreams, and once I woke up, I got back here. It was literally a double life, and rather complicated. There were many things from that life that I missed, and almost just as much that I regretted. In there, I had become a murderer myself, someone known only as The Reaper. That had been the biggest mistake of my life, and the memory of it still haunted me occassionally. I had almost lost one of my dearest friends, because of the things I had done in that world. Madeline. The only other person who knew about my second life. We had been through a lot, the two of us. The Kira-case, the deaths of friends -though I had managed to ressurrect my own friends, due to my mind's influence in that world, a rather complicated matter that I did not quite understand- lies, secrets, betrayal. It had almost broken us apart, but in the end, when I had tried to kill myself in an attempt to bring myself to justice for my actions, she had managed to forgive me. How she could have ever done that, I have no idea. I'm just glad it's true.

There were only two things in my home that reminded me of my old life, a life I have left in the past, where it belongs.

My Death Note. One that I had gotten in my last few months in the other dimension.

And my Shinigami, who was also my partner, my boyfriend; Beyond Birthday. We used to have a relationship, the two of us, until he died. Usig my influence, I managed to bring him back as a Shinigami, and now he was with me in every dimension I could possibly ever go to.

Since that last "dream", six years ago, I have only rarely gone back to the Death Note dimension. Madeline and I, when we realised the world had been reverted the moment the storyline ended, had decided never to go back. Though that wasn't exactly what had happened, our rare visits there now felt like dreams again, instead of reality. Sometimes, it was the story we had left, a world at peace after the disappearance of both Kira and The Reaper, other times, we found ourselves somewhere in the middle of the series, when the case was still the topic of the day. Sometimes it was L, then it was Mello and Near, one day it was Light, then there was Misa or Higuchi, then came Mikami and Takada. But never have we been stuck in it like we had been, all those years ago.

Introduction? Alright; I am Iris den Weerden, Dutch, twenty-two years and three months old. I work, like I said, in the local library but wish to become an author one day, and have a black belt for Karate. I spent the little free time I had on either writing or animating, another one of my hobbies. My animations had severely improved since I started practicing on my tenth. If I really tried, put time in it, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference from a real anime-series. Yep, anime was my favorite style to work in. It was simple, yet complicated and very beautiful. Simple and detailed all the same.

My father, Cornelis, is fifty-seven. My mother fifty-two, and my stepmother, Amy, has reached a stunning sixty only last week. I also have a brother, Damian, who is twenty-five and on his last year in university, studying micro-biology. I was almost as intelligent as he was, yet I never understood even the most basic things of his study.

Funny, eh? I am intelligent enough to be in university, become a surgent or a dentist or a vet or a politician or whatever I want, yet I'm stuck in a library, hoping to become an author one day.

But I'm getting off topic. Beside them, I have two little stepsisters, who are twins. Shayen and Lisha. They were both eighteen now, still lived at home and looking for either a job or somewhere they could study after their exams this year. Sometimes I really don't get what they're thinking or what they want.

And one of my best friends, Madeline Greene. She was, like me, twenty-two and still not sure what to do with her life. She had a nice boyfriend, like me, a good parttime job that earned her enough to go around on, like my library job.

We were... pretty much the same. Just as much nutcases as we always were, just a little more mature. Though... mature? That might be... no, we were still pretty immature sometimes. But I guess that's just the age, right? Enjoy the last bit of youth we have, before we really become complete adults with no lives of their own, living for their jobs, perghaps even husband -oh no, I'd never cheat on Beyond, wether he was a-third-Shinigami already or not (becoming a Shinigami after death was a slow process that took a century or more). A husband is something Madeline may get, but I'll never cheat on Beyond. I don't care if people think of me as a lonely person or not, they don't see the perfect partner I have! To others, he is just a ghost, something they don't see, or hear, or know. But he's there just the same.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar _beep_ coming from my computer. New e-mail.

My heart pounded wild with excitement as I went to check it. Just two days ago, I had finished my very first novel and send it to a publisher. Hopefully, this was an answer from them! Yes, yes, yes it was! I clicked it like crazy, and let my eyes race over the words before letting out an excited squeal and tackeling Beyond in the most hyper hug I had given him in months.

'They're gonna publish it, Beyond!' I exclaimed, laughing. 'My novel will actually be published!'

Beyond tried to wriggle himself free, or at least in a position that was less uncomfortable, but failed. Yeah, my grasp was pretty strong now. Then he just laughed as well. 'Heheh... congratulations, Strawberry! But eh... am I allowed to move again now?'

I shook my head, while tears of joy were streaming down my face. 'No! Not unless you celebrate together with me!'

Yup, just another day. But one that had been better than any other in the last week.

* * *

**That's it for now! Mainly introductions, as you've seen. Just to get everyone up-to-date on the situation in OBA.**

**Well, I hope you like it so far, and please, review and tell me your opinion! The next chapter will be up soon!**


	2. Goodnight

**OMG! You know, today I was checking my inbox while I was at school (no one even noticed XD) and saw that I had 37 new messages, almost every single one was from fanfiction , saying I had either a new review, or follower, or someone favorited me/my stories...**

**I really had to fight back the urge to just explode from happiness and scream things such as "Arigatou, minna~!" and all that...**

**Damnit, I almost cried in joy, you're all way too nice to me! Thank you!**

**..okay, got rid of that little thing...**

**now let's just get on with chapter two.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

I was dreaming again. A normal dream, for all I knew. Ofcourse, Beyond was with me, but he appeared in many of my dreams. Sometimes he was his Shinigami-self, sometimes he was human again. The one where he was a human were usually the best.

But he was a Shinigami in this one.

The place where I was, was familiar by now. Japan. I mean, I lived in Japan each night for three years, why _wouldn't_ it be familiar? More specifically, this was the place where I had first seen Madeline in the Death Note world. So, eh... was I dreaming I was back there? Perhaps. Like I had said earlier, that happened from time to time. It wasn't really that much of a surprise, coming back here.

But I always carefully made sure I didn't meet anyone I had known in those years. After all, I had disappeared in front of their eyes, six years ago, together with Madeline. If they saw me now, what the hell would they think? Yeah, that'd be akward.

Anyway, I guess it was time for a nice stroll then, have a nice conversation with Beyond. Like I usually did if I came back here. Just a stroll along the familiar streets, reminiscing memories from our time here. One of my favorutes was when Beyond and I first met. What a surprise that had been, seeing his personality was pretty much the opposite of what I had expected it to be, what it was supposed to be, according to Another Note. Yeah, I thought he was a psycho, but instead, he was probably the politest young maan I had ever met. My god, that had been weird. I had never asked what had caused that sudden switch of personality, though. I guess that must have been... painful, mentally as well as physically.

Another nice memory was the day Madeline and I had told him about fanart and fanfiction in our world. He had practically choked laughing. Or L's twenty-fifth birthday, for one. The detective had insisted to ignore it, the moment Beyond mentioned it, but ofcourse,_ that_ had been ignored instead. Since it was also Halloween, Beyond had bought a snake as well. Little Sanguis. One day, the lovely little snake was suddenly gone, and we never saw him again. I wondered where he went for quite a while, but soon forgot about it. That was also the one time I had seen L drunk, after Beyond had forced him to at least taste a bit of sake, and it turned out he actually liked it. That night had been a weird one, but a lot of fun.

I prefered remembering those things instead of the bad things, ofcourse. Who wouldn't want to forget the things that had driven them off the edge? I had become a murderer because of all the things I had experienced in here, it made me literally go insane.

Great Kami, I was so glad all that was over, nothing but a memory.

As I walked here, I couldn't help but wonder; how was everyone doing? Since time went two times faster in this world than in my own, it's been twelve years since I last saw them. L, whom I had kept alive using my influence, must be like... fourty-two now? Yes. Then he had only fifteen more years to live... oh, how fast the time went by. As for Near, he was twenty-eight now, wasn't he? And Naomi Misora, who was still alive as well, was fourty-four. I wondered if everyone on the Task Force was still alive. And little Nessa, how was she doing? Last time I saw her, she was five, so that must mean L and Naomi's daughter was seventeen now.

Really, time went by so fast, yet it seemed as though this place hadn't changed much at all.

Then again, maybe this wasn't _that_ version of the Death Note universe. Perhaps this was just the original series, at the time when Light was in confinement or something. It really looked peaceful, after all.

Whatever it was, I didn't particularly care. So long as I could leave again, and not return for a long time yet.

* * *

**Oh hey, another thingy: Madeline now has an account on here, too! _Madelinee_.**

**I wonder if she'll write anything soon, and for what series... but go check it out, if you'd like!**

**Yay, advertising for my friends is fun :P**

**Sorry that this was a short chapter, the next one, I promise, is longer!**


	3. Family Day

**I'm sorry for posting two short chapters after eachother...**

**So I'll post two today instead of one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

Three weeks later, I was at my father and Amy's house, together with Damian. Every now and then, we had our little "reunion" day. A day in which we talked about whatever was going on in our lives now.

'So, Damian,' My father asked, turning to my brother as we were all gathered around the table. It was only then, strangely enough, that I first noticed his hair was becomind more grey than blonde. 'How's life in university? I hope everything's going right?' Then Shayen leaned in closely to my brother, smirking and her grey-blue eyes twinkling with mischief from behind her dark brown hair. 'Met any cute girls?'

Damian blinked at her, a bored look in his eyes. Then he shrugged, and answered: 'It's fine there. Studying for those exams is hard, but I'm pretty sure I'll manage.' When Shayen opened her mouth, he quickly added: 'And no; there are no nice girls there. Not the type that catches my attention, that is. And I don't really catch anyone's attention, either.'

'Dude!' Lisha exclaimed. 'You're twenty-five and you've never had a girlfriend yet! Are you even straight or what?!'

Damian sighed and glared at the girl, not answering. I just laughed, together with Shayen and even Amy giggled for a moment, and said: 'No, I think he's more like... anti-sexual or something? Am I right, Dame?' (Note: this is just a nickname, ofcourse. But "Dame" is Dutch for "Lady")

'Oh, will you just shut up, Iris?' He muttered, and our father nodded. 'Yeah, let's talk about you next.' He said, smirking just like Shayen had just done. I don't really know who teaches who things in here... was it not dad and Amy's task to raise the girls, instead of the other way around? Even though they were eighteen already, that is, and would be nineteen in just four months from now.

I shrugged. 'Okay, what is it you want to hear? The library is crowded, my book sells just fine for a first one... and my home is a mess. Anything else?'

'Any guys in your life?' Amy asked me, earning a sarcastic glare.

I rolled my eyes. 'No. I thought that was a topic we wouldn't discuss, or does that only count for Damian?'

'Any girls, then?' Oh, damn you, Lisha. Damn you and your words sometimes.

'Ofcourse not! I'm perfectly straight, thank you! There's nothing wrong with being gay or lesbian, I know, but I must admit that I'm happy I am neither of those. Especially gay. That'd be... weird, seeing as I am still pretty damn sure I am female.' I folded my arms against my chest and closed my eyes. 'And what about you two, then? You already had a boyfriend on your tenth, Lisha. Do you have a... fifth already?'

'No. Currently no boys for me!' Lisha said, her dark chestnut eyes suddenly cold. That lasted only a second or two, before they began to shine again. 'Shayen, however-'

'He's not my boyfriend!' Her twin instantly protested. 'I just think he's good-looking, that's all!'

'He _is_'

'Is not!'

'Is!'

'Is not!'

I shook my head and turned to Amy and dad. 'Since those two are too occupied with their outburst of childishness to hold a decent conversation,' I said, half-quoting a line I used in my book, changing only a few words. 'What about you two? Is being sixty a big difference from first, Amy?'

She laughed and shook her head. 'Not really, no. Don't you know? Sixty is the new fifty, I've become ten years younger again!'

'You said that when you became fifty... "fifty is the new fourty", is exactly what you said then.' Damian said. 'Which means that, either way, you'll be fifty now... and since fifty has been fourty for about twenty years now, I guess that means your still fourty, are you not?'

She nodded proudly, smiling. Oh, these were always just the type of crackish conversations she and Damian have always loved. 'But since you've been fourty for twenty years now...' Damian went on. 'That makes you sixty again. Sicty is the new fifty, so then you're fifty. You know, this can go on endlessly.' He eventually said, to end it. And damn, he was right. If we didn't hit the breaks on Amy, she might go joking about her age for _ages_.

'And you, dad?' I asked my father, who had been watching the little stepmother-stepson scene just now. He smiled, and answered: 'Well, let's say that I look forward to the moment I can stop working.' Yeah, I could understand that. He had always had trouble with one of his legs, and his back, and had broken more bones than I could imagine even before my birth. Yet, he kept on working, building and installing garagedoors, and had to keep doing so until his sixty-seventh. The poor man, with an age like this, it wasn't easy to find a new job. No, people wanted young employees, not someone who's fifty-two.

But still, I could try. 'You know, dad, you can always see if you can find something easier, if this becomes too hard. I'm pretty sure they need a few more people in the library, for example.'

He just laughed. 'And be stuck between books all day? No, Iris, I love reading as much as you do, but I love my job too much, how hard it may be. I'll keep going for as long as I can, even if I do look forward to the day I can retire.'

Yeah, reasoning about things like this wasn't particularly easy with dad.

We kept on talking like that -Lisha and shayen joined in again, too, when they finished their little argument. But I was getting pretty tired, even though it was only four P.M. yet. Perhaps this week had been a little too busy for me? Yeah, perhaps. Also, there was this sudden nausea. Well, not that sudden, actually, nor really surprising. Amy and dad were two great cooks, as was Damian, but today it had been Shayen and Lisha who had insisted on making lunch for everyone. It had been a simple little thing, really, but who knows what the two have thrown in to make it less simple? Sometimes I thought they were trying to poisen us, every time they came with the offer "let us cook today!".

The little monsters. Lovely little monsters that I held extremely dear, but really two mischievous little monsters.

So, an hour later, I just said good-bye to everyone and left again, two hours earlier than usuall. And told myself to remember; never eat lunch when it's been made by the twins. Never.

* * *

**True story. Somewhat.**

**Really, the twins aren't _that_ bad at cooking, or at least Lisha isn't, but I wonder what'll happen when Amy doesn't help them anymore...**

**Yeah, we all have to cook one day per week, and it's a lot of fun! My brother, I never imagined it, but he's a _great__ cook_...makes me look forward to Thursday already...**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!**


	4. Sis' Turn

**Hey hey, I made a special chappy again!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**Lisha's**_** PoV~**_

This dream... it was disturbing. I was in a strange country, with strange people, and everything was just strange.

I had oftenly had strange dreams, I knew that. But never like this one. I knew I was on Earth, that much was clear. In my dreams, I was always either in another world, something that doesn't exist and is being made up by my own fantasy, or on Earth, in my own country, Holland. But this... what was it? I looked around, as if I could find the answer on the faces of all those people around me, or the sky, for that matter. They looked... Asian, perhaps? Yeah, I guess so. And then there were the weird symbols on the buildings -which I now thought were shops. How come I hadn't seen them earlier? Why hadn't I payed attention to them yet? They gave me my answer; I was in either China, or Japan. I never really succeeded in keeping the two different languages apart, like my older sister, Iris, could. On her thirteenth already had she managed to teach herself a little bit of Japanese by watching anime. She had given me and my sister Shayen these cute nicknames... cute... was that not something like "Hawaii"? Er, no... oh, right! "Kawaii"! Now, the nicknames she gave us were things like "Onee-chan", which, according to her, means "little sister". We, in turn, called her "Onee-sama", as she taught me and Shayen. When she was annoyed, or frustrated, she used to either shout or mutter something like "doshite-dayo, Kami-sama!". She told us she was pretty sure that meant something like "Oh, why, god?". I wasn't so sure, though.

Anyway, this place... yeah, I guess it's Japan. I picked up bits and pieces of conversations people were having, and though I understood not even a single word of what they said, I was pretty sure it was Japanese. Iris had told me how the Japanese harldy ever pronounce anything like we do. She had said, for example; Chocolate would be something along the lines of "Cho-co-ra-tu". Oh, and they practucally _never_ used an "L" in their language. I hadn't heard a single one of it yet.

Forget China, this is Japan.

Next question; what the heck am I dreaming, this is getting creepy!

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me. I didn't understand a single word it said, though. I turned around and saw a woman, who looked to be in her fourties or so, with long, raven-black hair and kind grey eyes. She was, I must say, quite pretty. I blinked at her, bit my lip, and scanned my memory for any other words Iris had ever taught me. 'Er... gomenasai? I don't speak Japanese.'

The woman looked at me a moment longer, and then smiled. 'That's okay,' She said. Hearing English, though not my favorite language, spread a tidal wave of relief through me. 'I speak English, as well.' The woman went on. 'I'm sorry, but can I help you with anything? You look rather... lost.'

I nodded, though I wasn't sure wether I could trust this woman or not. She looked kind, but... who knows what she really is? Ah, it's just a dream, anyway. Talking to her won't get me killed. 'Yes, I am rather lost, you're right.' I answered, looking around the same way I had done before she came. 'Can you tell me where I am, exactly?'

'In a village close to Tokyo.' The woman answered me. _I had been right! This is Japan!_ 'I am Naomi, by the way. Naomi Misora.'

It sounded familiar, like an old, forgotten memory. It didn't really ring a bell, though. Yes, definitely forgotten. I nodded, and introduced myself. 'Nice to meet you, miss Misora... er, Misora-san?' She smiled at me, and I went on: 'I am Lisha den Weerden.'

Hearing my name, her eyes, which she had closed when she smiled, snapped open, and somewhat of shock lay in them. 'Den Weerden? I-is that really your last name?'

What was going on here? I shuffeled my feet over the ground, feeling more uncomfortable with the minute. 'W-well, no... my real last name is Van Berg, b-but my mother got remarried years ago, and I took on my stepfather's last name... which is den Weerden...'

Misora-san looked at me for a moment, then shook her head, muttering something in Japanese to herself. By the sound of it, the translation would be "unbelievable". Then when she spoke again, came a very unexpected question. 'Are you, perhaps, family of Iris den Weerden? Or stepfamily, since you said den Weerden is your stepfather's name.'

I stared at her, unblinking. What the heck? What kind of a dream was this? 'Y-yes, Iris is my sister... stepsister. W-why?'

Naomi didn't answer me. Instead, she looked away, muttering to herself again. Then, suddenly: 'Excuse me for a moment. Please stay here, I'll be back in a minute.' And she walked away, to one of the shops in this street, and called inside. I wasn't sure, but I think she said two names. For all I heard, they were "Eru" and "Nessa". Strange names... at least Naomi was still a normal name. Out of the shop now came a man, who looked to be Naomi's age, and a girl. They must be Eru and Nessa, then. Naomi brought them to me, and said a few things to them in Japanese. The only things I could make out was the name Iris den Weerden, but that was it. The man's eyes widened just like Naomi's had, and the girl, Nessa, had the same reaction, but accompanied with a smile.

Then the man turned to me, when Naomi was finished speaking. 'You said your name was Lisha, right?' Thank goodness he spoke English, too! 'My name is L Lawliet. Nice to meet you.'

_L Lawliet_. I thought, shocked. Now _this_ did ring a bell._ L Lawliet...L...L..._

'Oh my god!' I exclaimed. 'H-h-how? L Lawliet... from Death Note... yes, Iris was a huge fan of that series... and she told me about you...' The words tumbled out of my mouth, and I was hardly aware of the fact I was thinking out loud. 'What a strange dream... I never watched Death Note, how can I dream about it? Shit... this is crazy.' I looked up and inspected the man who claimed to be L. No, he didn't quite look like Iris' discription of him at all, nor the fanart she had made of him. Black hair that was messy and looked like a bird's nest and dark grey, almost black eyes and pale skin were the only things that really fitted in the mental image I had of L, for all I knew him. No white shirt, no absurdly large bags under his eyes... didn't look like a panda at all. Plus, his back was straight. No, that wasn't right. He stood hunched over a little, but only a little. And besides, the L Iris told me about died on his twenty-fifth, and this man must be fourty, or at least almost. And he definitely didn't have a wife and daughter, oh no.

I quite literally laughed in his face now. 'L Lawliet? You're kidding me! L doesn't wear normal clothes like that, he never sleeps so he looks like a human-panda-hybrid, and died on his twenty-fifth, you're way_ too old_! And that girl, I assume she's your daughter? She looks like you. And L. Doesn't have. _Any_ family, whatsoever.' I calmed myself again, realising how rude this must be, even if it_ was_ a dream, and he _was_ lying to me. 'Sorry, but I can't really believe that. And besides, L is from a series called Death Note, which I have never watched or read -I've only heard about it from my crazy sis, Iris- so there's _no way_ I can be dreaming about it! And trust me, this is a dream. I fell asleep on my own bed just a few minutes ago, and next thing I know, I'm here. This is a dream, nothing more. And I'd like to wake up now.'

The three people looked at me, confused, somewhat amused, too. So they thought this was funny? Screw them! I turned around, threw my arms in the air and said: 'If this is really a dream about Death Note, then where the hell are Mello, and Matt, Kira and Near and everyone else Iris told me about, huh?' Yeah, they should be here, too. I looked over my shoulder once, and then walked away. 'You're all crazy!'

Then again, maybe I was crazy for dreaming this.

And it was all Iris' fault. She was the one to have told me about this series in the first place. Oh, I'm so gonna rant to her about the horror I had to go through because of her!

* * *

**I think I will write from more different PoVs in this one than in The Fantasy. Iris, Lisha, Madeline... and some others. Probably Shayen, too. (I told Lisha about this, and then Shayen went all like "Oh, will you make a chapter about my character too, pleeaaasseee?" With puppy-dog-eyes. How could I say no?)**

**Well, that's it for today. I'll update again soon, I promise!**


	5. Worry

**So Lisha now goes to that world too? Well, yes.**

**Then something else. Somewhere halfway in The Fantasy, I've mentioned I was working on an AMV with BB and L, right? Well, I will remake it now thhat I have a new tablet, because I can't draw humans without one *sigh*, but I have a preview for it (with the old, suckish pictures and animations in it) on youtube. And since fanfiction somehow doesn't allow me to place a link here whatsoever, if you want to watch it, it's called _Death Note AMV PREVIEW -Beyond Birthday & L -How You Remind Me _by, ofcourse,_ bluesunkatsuri_.**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

I came back home after yet another day of work in the library, and was beginning to think maybe I should sleep more. I was constantly tired. Had I not been sure I slept every night, you might almost think I was becoming an insomniac. Before making dinner for myself, I checked my e-mail -which had nothing new- like I usually did. Then I turned on my cell phone again, and was more than just surprised to see I've had six calls from Lisha today. Wondering what it was for, I called her back, and was greeted by a not-so pleased voice.

'_Iris! Finally, you're home!_' My sister's voice came. She sounded... scared, maybe? '_You won't believe what happened to me! Do you even know what you have done to me, with all your talk of Death Note, years ago? Well, last night, I've had a dream in which I was in Japan, then came a woman who introduced herself as Naomi Misora. When I told her my name, she went all like "Oh, are you family of Iris den Weerden?" So I said yes, kinda. Then she went to get someone else, some guy and a younger girl, and that man said he was L! I've never watched Death Note, yet I dream about it! Iris, you completely screwed up my mind with all your obsessive fangirl shit!_'

She spoke so fast, I was hardly given a chance to actually hear what she said, let alone answer. Bottom line was, for all I had heard, that she dreamed about Death Note because of me. 'Okay, okay,' I soothed her. 'Calm down. Now, you said Naomi Misora and L Lawliet, right? And a girl? What's her name, or don't you know?'

'_Something like Nessa, I guess. Why?_'

My heart practically stopped. How the hell-? If she met Nessa, and L and Naomi were together, then it couldn't have been a normal Death Note-dream. She... _she went to the world I lived in!_ But how is that possible?

'_Iris, what the heck is going on?_' Lisha demanded when I didn't answer. Could I tell her? No. No, I wouldn't. It was probably a one-time visit, anyway. Let her believe it's a dream...

'Oh, nothing. Well, when you talked about a girl, I thought you might have seen Misa Amane, too. I guess not, then. Well, I'm sorry I caused you to have that dream, Lisha.' I said, faking a bit of laughter in my voice. 'I won't ever tell you stories anymore, I promise.'

'_Yeah, right._' Came my sister's annoyed answer. '_Well, see you later, I guess_.'

'Yeah, bye then.'

And we hung up.

How did she come to that world? And why did she meet Naomi and L, of all people? That was the same as telling her "welcome to a different dimension!". Why, fate, why?!

I could hear Beyond coming to stand beside me, and he asked: 'Iris? Anything wrong?'

I nodded, but didn't speak. All this made me feel sick. What if it _hadn't_ been a one-time thing? What if she'd return there? Or, what if Shayen got in that world as well, or the one where the Kira-case is still going on? That would be even worse, if any of them went there! What if they managed to get themselves killed? Would they die in this world, too? These thoughts truly made me feel sick. They didn't know anything about that world, didn't know who to trust and who to avoid, had no idea what was true and what was a lie. If not only Lisha, but also Shayen would go to that world in her sleep, think of the trouble they could get in!

I felt cold, and became dizzy. My precious sisters, what if something happened to them? Not able to take it anymore, I ran to the bathroom and hovered over the toilet, and it was only a few seconds before I actually vomitted. Oh god, my precious sisters... oh no...

Or what would happen if Damian went there, or dad, mom, Amy? Any of them! Or any of my friends, for that matter. Oh, I just couldn't think about the trouble they could get in, the horrible things they could witness, the-

I didn't get the chance to think anything else before the nausea made me throw up again.

Just great, so my family now goes to the Death Note world in their sleep? What the hell?! How was that even possible, damnit?!

No. No, I shouldn't worry like this. I mean, look where that worry has gotten me, in only two minutes! Hanging over a toilet, emptying my insides, even though I was already hungry enough!

Yup. A third time.

Anyway, it was just one dream. And it was only Lisha, no one else. Not that I knew off, that is. I shouldn't worry that much. Just...relax.

I kept repeating those two words in my head, until my body and mind actually listened to it. Then I just flushed, washed my face and went to make dinner for myself. Thank goodness Beyond was a Shinigami and didn't need any of the human facilities like gas, or power. Or food. Or water. No, I had enough money to take care of myself, but that's pretty much it. So I was very grateful for the fact I could enjoy his company, yet pay for just one person. Really, adult life wasn't easy.

I had to earn my own money and pay my own rent and other bills... sometimes I wanted to be a teenager again, really.

The rest of the night, the horror that had egulfed me after Lisha had told me about her "dream" didn't leave me, and I hardly slept. For once, I was really glad I didn't have to work on Saturdays...

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**A short chapter again, I know, and I'm sorry... seems like this one doesn't have mega-chapters like its prequel...**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope my AMV Preview doesn't suck that much (I have never animated humans before, or animated anything much lately... I have to get back into it, really)**


	6. M 'n M

**And here's chapter six!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Madeline's PoV~**

Saturday. Saturday means weekend. Weekend means I'm happy.

Yup, good mood for me today!

Rule number one: during the weekend, a real Greene never feels blue, never!

A rule which I always happily followed, or at least tried my very best to. I stretched myself as I got out of bed, then got dressed and went into the kitchen to make some breakfast for myself. So, what is it I shall do today? After finishing up a few things at home, maybe I could visit Iris? No, last time I spoke her, she sounded really tired. Maybe it'd be best if I leave her alone for now. Go shopping? Not really my favorite thing to do, but it was okay.

If I had enough money to spend it on things that were actually nice, that is. Stupid rent.

Something that was free, then. Go for a stroll in the park, perhaps? After all, the weather was finally beginning to get better again. No rain, no snow, no cold and no strong winds anymore, spring had finally arrived! Well, that meant the occassional rainy day and some of them were still pretty damn cold, but whatever.

I really had no intention of staying home today, and couldn't really think of something... damnit, why do my ideas leave me on days like these? Wait! Rule number one, remember it! _A real Greene never feels blue during the weekend. Never._ Yeah, stay green, don't go blue! Being green means that you're only sick, now if you're blue... you're choking, sufocating... no, it's better to just be green.

And besides, green is a nice color. I had green eyes, green trousers, green shirts, sometimes my skin even had a greenish tint, but like I said just now: that means I'd be ill. As for my hair... that was red. Well, ginger, then.

But ginger and green mixes well, so that's okay!

...Good lord, my own mind disturbs me sometimes. Weird thoughts, weird thoughts...

Okay, finished breakfast, finished doing that blasted laundry... what now? Oh, right; go outside, and we'll see from there. Yeah, always a good thing to start with.

Minutes later, I found myself at a mall, anyway. Just to look around, not to buy anything. Unless it was awesome and I just really _needed_ it _and_ could afford it. Especially that last thing. Why was it, that when you only just start living by yourself and only just got a job, you're practically always broke? Oh well...

I just kept on walking, looking at some shops, never really paying attention to them, though. Humming a bit to myself, then whistling because it sounded better, then back to humming. You know, the weather was really great today. Not too warm, not too cold, and dry. The sun was shining, even though there were still a few clouds traveling on a soft breeze, and the air was fresh. Well, as fresh as it'll ever be, with all those cars and shit, that is. But whatever, I've been used to such scents all my life, I don't particularly care.

Something, or rather someone, caught my attention, and I turned my head to look. Ooh, my eyes never play tricks on me, that guy_ is_ hot! _Now, don't go after him yet,_ As I told myself this, I pouted inwardly. Why? _Because that'll only make you look like a weirdo. If you see him again, perhaps you could try and have a little chat with him. THEN it's important to find out if he's still single, 'cause if he is and you start hitting on him, you suck. So if you meet a nice guy, FIRST clear that out. Yeah, listen to your inner voice, it always tells the-_

Wait, why did my inner voice suddenly shut up? I don't really get it._ Use your eyes, you have them for a reason._ My eyes? _Yeah, those. Use them. Look._ Look?...at what, exactly?

_Her, damnit! In front of you!_

In front of me... stood a young woman, my age, give or take. Long blonde hair, black dress... she looked gothic, if you ask me. Her haircolour looked... unnatural, though. was it dyed? Yeah, perhaps. Her eyes were brown, and she wore quite heavy make-up, straing at a dress that looked a bit like what she was wearing already with a longing gaze. Why the heck would anyone buy two things that were practically the same? Oh wait, a lot of people do that, never mind.

So, what's the big deal? A weird-looking, perhaps gothic, blonde young woman? A... gothic...blonde...young woman...

Misa...Amane. What. The. Fuck.

That must be the best cosplay I've ever seen, or I was daydreaming. No, I had been the one to go to _her_ world, not the other way around! It couldn't be her, it just couldn't!

But... No. No, talk to her and you'll see, it's not her!

I swallowed nervously, took a few steps closer to her and asked: 'Pardon, ken ik u misschien?' (translarion: I'm sorry, but have we met somewhere?)

Startled, she looked up at me. Wow, really good cosplay. Yeah, that's it. Just cosplay. _On a normal Saturday, in Holland, where anime hardly even gets dubbed in our own language? Yeah, keep dreaming!_ Then she shook her head. 'I'm sorry, but do you speak English, too?' She had this weird accent, like English wasn't her native language, or at least she hadn't spoken it in a while. And that accent... was Japanese, no doubt.

'E-Engels... I mean, English...yeah, sure I do.' Okay, creepy. This was getting creepy, damnit. Maybe I had better not talked to her at all, then.

'Oh, good.' The woman sighed in relief. Then she giggled in a way-too-familiar way...holy shit. 'What is it I can help you with?'

I blinked, and moved my mouth soundlessly. Then I shook my head and found my voice back. 'I'm sorry for that, I'm just... surprised. You look like someone I know, that's all.'

Two perfect-brown eyes now copied my confused blink, and she tiled her head to one side, scanning me with her gaze for a moment. 'Well, I'm sorry, but I've never seen you before.' She concluded. 'But perhaps you're not mistaken. I'm pretty famous in Japan and America, and several other countries as well. Not in here, though, which is why I decided to go on vacation here. No fans buzzing around me every step I take, you see... Oh, sorry, forgot to introduce myself, anyway!' She laughed, and my heart pounded wild. Famous in Japan and America... my god. 'I'm Misa Amane, nice to meet you.'

'M-M-M' I stammered, unable to actually speak. 'A-Amane? M-Misa...?' I turned around and ran away, not even bothering to introduce myself.

This had been either a really good cosplayer who was really in-character, or... she had been the real-deal.

Run away, don't look back. Run, run, run- wait, don't run further, your bicycle's over there. Good, hop on and hurry back home!

Oh really, I didn't know how soon I had to go back home after this! It had been... too weird, too creepy. Had I not left that past behind? Yes, I had! Now... why? Why has it come back to me? The moment I got home, I threw aside my bicycle -I'd place it somewhere decent later on- ran to my door... and smashed my head against it. Right, they don't open automatically, you need a key for that. Forgot that little detail in my rush, that's all. With shaking hands, I managed to get the key in that damned small keyhole, got inside, locked it again and practically leapt at my phone, dialing a number that was almost as familiar as my own, or that of my family.

Iris.

_Come on, come on, pick it up, answer it!_ I silently urged her on when I had been waiting for... ten seconds already. Then the beeping stopped, and a tired-sounding voice came: '_Mads? Hi. What is it?_'

'Iris, you won't believe it!' Then words came tumbling over my lips in a hurry, as I explained what had just happened.

* * *

**And there's Misa again. I never really liked Misa that much, but oh well...**

**Oh, and when I told Madeline about this chapter, more specifically the first part, she told me how that was "quite unlike her"... made a mistake, then, but I'm just too lazy to rewrite it! XD**

**Next chappy will be up soon, and thanks for reading!**


	7. Adding Up

**Directly continued from the last chapter. Wow, for once, I don't have a time-gap, however small it may be.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

My ear was practically glued to the phone while Madeline spoke. What the hell? She went to the mall and met _who_?!

'Misa Amane?!' I exclaimed. 'Are -are you sure?!'

'_Yes, damnit, haven't I made that obvious yet?!_' She yelled back.

Okay, time to line a few things up. Few weeks ago, I dreamt about Death Note again, that same world most likely. Then, Lisha dreamed about it. And now... Madeline has seen Misa Amane, _the_ Misa Amane, here...in our world... our country...our _hometown_. Was my old friend, Taro Kagami, not bad enough already? Was it not bad enough, that someone from that world came here years ago and took his Shinigami with him? I mean, yeah, he practically disappeared, I hadn't seen him in over eight years, but...

_More of them_?

Oh, just great... I hadn't slept all night because of yesterday, with Lisha... and now this. How much can a person have in twenty-four hours? I'm beginning to wonder...

'_So, Iris, what're we supposed to do now?_' Came Madeline's voice again.

Oh, so I was the one to solve this now? What the heck? 'I have no idea.' It came out flat and annoyed, perhaps even more so than I intended.

'_...Are you even alright? You don't sound so great..._'

'No, not really. I think I may have slept for an hour or two, but no more than that. Long story, but-'

'_Tell me, anyway._' Yes, oh great Madeline-sama. I will do whatever you say, wether I feel like my head'll explode in a few minutes and my stomach is twisted uspide-down and my eyelids are heavy as stone, or not. You wish, I oblige...

Okay, that was over-exaggerated, sorry. And besides, I'd have to tell her eventually, anyway. 'Well, yesterday evening, I got a call from my sister Lisha. And what she had to say was... disturbing.'

'_And what may this news have been, then?_' She sounded somewhat sarcastic... good lord, I really couldn't take that just now.

'She dreamed about Death Note, even though she's never watched it. Which is not so surprising, since I practically killed them with my talk of it once they had the right age, but... I never told them about _our_ world, the one we lived in.'

'_So?_'

'She met Naomi Misora. And then L. And with those two, came Nessa. That's the whole problem. My little sister is now somehow in that world as well, and I'm worried about her.'

'_...I see. That's..._' She trailed off. But I could easily guess the words she was about to say just now. "Disturbing" like I had said, or "strange" or "unbelievable"...one of those, or something like them. '_But hey, you shouldn't worry too much. She's eighteen, she can handle herself. We were still children when we first came there, remember? And we handled ourselves just fine, too. Even if she keeps coming back there, I'm sure nothing'll happen._'

Yeah, right. 'Then you don't know Lisha, Mads. She can get in trouble while doing something as simple as eating her breakfast, ofcourse I'm worried about her. And what about Shayen? She's no better. Ofcourse they're older now than we were back then, but still as immature at times. Lisha is too inquisitive, and Shayen trusts people quite fast. What if Lisha picks up a Death Note? Or what if Shayen tried to brefriend Kira, or Mello? She'll get killed for sure, and Lisha'll be convicted for being Kira, probably getting executed in the end...'

'_Whoa, Iris! Calm down a bit, 'kay? I mean, I'd worry too, if my sister suddenly went there, or my brother, but-_'

'Oh my god, not Damian!' I exclaimed, though it was my intention to just think it. Well, thinking out loud, then. 'He'd get himself killed within a few days, really!... Then again, I think he might be the type that hangs back and does nothing, letting others solve the Kira case instead... If he ever met L, it might get interesting, though. Both are pretty stoic, talk rather monotonously... especially L.' I laughed. 'I'd like to see something like that, actually!'

'_You know, Iris, for once your sudden moodswings aren't that disturbing. Yeah, just think of the good things that might happen, the funny things, and forget those worries. Damn, with the life we've had, years ago, and now this... we might get grey hair on our twenty-fifth or earlier, haha!'_ Madeline commented. Yeah, my moodswings... I loved them, really. Especially since they were almost always positive. Angry? There comes my moodswing to save the day and make me smile again! Sad? Same thing. And I've had those ever since I first hit puberty, a decade ago, and they never left after all that. Wow, was that really ten years ago? Time goes fast, damnit... give me a little moment and I'll be thirty!

...my mind is trailing off again. Now, what were we talking about? Oh right; the Death Note trouble...

'So, do you think it'll stop with Misa, Mads?' I asked, trying to sound indifferent when I felt panic rise to my throat and block my breath again.

'_Huh? Oh, right..._' Oh, so I wasn't the only one to go wandering in my own head? That's a relief... '_Quite honestly, no. If Misa's here, there'll be Rem. With Rem, we might as well get Ryuk and Light, too. Ofcourse, L won't be able to stand it if there's a case he's unable to solve just because it's in another world, so he'll come here too... and take the Task Force and Watari with him. And perhaps even Aiber and Wedy. And if those two come here, then we get other criminals, too, and even Higuchi, who knows... You know, the whole gang_.'

...thank you, my dear Madeline. How reassuring you could be, you make me ssooo happy...

Okay, my moodswings weren't _always_ positive, I'll admit. 'Well, we'll think of something.' I juust decided. 'I'll talk to you later, okay? I'm gonna try to recharge myself now.' And hope with all my heart I'll succeed, I wasn't as great at being an insomniac as L was.

'_Yeah. Good luck with that, Iris!_' And with that, she hung up.

Finally...

Now, don't get me wrong! I loved talking to her, I really did, but... well, I don't wanna comlain that much anymore, so I won't, but I'm sure you get it.

When I walked to my room, pretty much stumbling there, and let myself fall on top of it, Beyond sat down beside me and asked, smiling: 'Hey, Strawberry, something wrong?'

'Yeah, a lot...' I muttered through my pillow.

'And what's the problem now, then?' Please don't sound so cheerful, Beyond. Please don't, not now.

'My sister went to the Death Note universe we left all those years ago, and now Madeline has seen Misa Amane in this world, and she was fucking right when she said only more of them will follow, if they're not here already...' I sighed, and added: 'And I'm tired, damnit! And hungry... and have a headache,_ again_. Is it any wonder, by the way? Anyway, I'm hungry but too tired to even think of making anything for myself now, so that sucks... I assume you can't get something for me?'

'Nope, I guess not... sorry, Strawberry.' He answered, then laughed. 'Oh, you'll be alright once you've slept a bit!'

'_If_ I get the chance to...' Well, something up there must've felt bad for me just now, because only a minute after saying that, I was completely out like a light. Thank goodness.

* * *

**And the next chapter... is Iris again! Yeah, she's still one of the two most important characters along with Mads, but I wanted to give some others a nice role in this, too.**

**Poor Shayen... I've already written a chapter in Damian's PoV (yay, spoilers for my own fic!), and she sat beside me while I wrote that. So she went all like "when will mine come?" again, and again...those eyes!**

**But she'll have to wait. And besides, she isn't even allowed to read this yet, so whatever.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading again and I hope you liked it!**


	8. Flowing Time

**Wow... another short chapter...**

**But to make up for that, I posted two chapters today. Two short ones, but together, they make a long one XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

Okay, so I finally got some sleep. But now...

...I'm back in that world. Just great.

Maybe I went here in my dreams because I need to do something here? Perhaps. Well, I'll see, I guess. For now, just walk, like I always do. I'll see what happens.

And whaddaya know, I was right when I thought I might have something I needed to do in here! But... not yet. Maybe I was wrong, maybe not. I just have this feeling... that something will happen.

Something. I just have no idea what, and that's the whole problem now.

'Beyond,' I sighed, not looking up but knowing that he was at my side again, as he awlways was. 'Why now? Why does all of this happen? And more importantly; why am I the one involved in all of it, together with Madeline?'

He just smiled at me. 'Well, that's a very special little thing called fate, my dear Strawberry!'

'I think fate is being mean to me...' I pouted as I walked around a corner of the street. The moment I did that, I got my confirmation:

My guts have been telling me the truth just now! Oh, joy...

'Iris?' The voice of a girl came. Instantly, I spun my head to the source of that voice, confused for a moment. A young girl stood in front of me, repeating my name again. 'I-is it really-?' Then she tackeled me in a not-so gentle hug. 'Oh, it really is! Iris, I've missed you!'

Had it not been for the Shinigami Eyes I still had in this world, I might not have recognised her at all. But seeing the letters above her head, forming a name together. 'N-Nessa!' I gasped, trying to free myself of her embrace. Wow, she had really grown up a lot since I last saw her. But... not as much as I thought she would. Finally, she let go of me and stood in front of me, smiling widely and her grey eyes twinkling with joy. 'H-how have you been?' Was the first thing I managed to ask as I scanned her appearance with my gaze. Shouldn't she be-?

'Oh, I'm fine.' She answered. 'And how about you? I can't believe you're really back, I missed you so much.' Then she looked over my shoulder, and smiled even wider. 'And Beyond, too! Hi there!'

I shook my head, and tried my very best to look as happy as her, instead of just confused. 'Yeah, I missed you, too. And I'm okay, as well. How long has it been, huh? Last time I saw you, you barely reached my hip!'

She laughed now, and nodded. 'Seven years is long, isn't it?'

_Seven years?!_ 'O-only seven?' I stammered. 'It should have been twelve... how come it's been only seven years?' This isn't right, it shouldn't be right. Time goes twice as fast in this world, and since it has been six years in my own since I last saw Ness, it should have been twelve in here. So how come? What the hell happened in here?

Nessa tilted her head to one side, confused, and asked: 'T-twelve years?' Then she smiled again. 'What, is seven not long enough? What are you talking about, Iris?'

I didn't answer right away. Instead, I just shook my head, trying to think of an explanation. Only when Nessa said my name a second time did I reply. 'I assume your parents have told you that I'm not from this world, right?' When she nodded, I continued. 'Well, in my world, time goes two times slower than here. And in there, it's been six years since we last saw eachother. Do you see my problem? I-it just isn't right...'

She considered this for a moment, pressing her thumb to her bottom lip -a trait she obviously got from her father, along with some others. Then the girl nodded again. 'You're right, that's indeed weird. But we can't change it, now can we? It's just the way it is, Iris, don't fret about it too much.'

How come everyone gives me the same advise all the time? _Don't fret too much, don't worry, everything'll turn out just fine_. I couldn't believe it, really. How couldn't I worry, when the one part of my life I had hoped I really left behind, comes flying back all of the sudden? But I just sighed. 'Alright, Nessa. Thanks.'

Okay, so time in these worlds are somehow sychronizing, then? Most likely. Question is; when will the two different flows of time be the same? And once they do, what'll happen then?

Okay, question-overload. All I know now, is that my little sister went here, and Mias went to my world. And time here is going slower now, so it's almost the same as my own. Soon, they'd probably be the same. My only idea is that those things are conected. Now... is it maybe, that once time flows become the same in these worlds, the worlds temselves become... the same as well? Will we be... mixed?

It might be possible...

Nessa, Beyond and I kept on talking a bit more, not about this whole problem, and then I woke up again.

Ofcourse, of all this stress and thinking even while I sleep, the headache I had hadn't left at all, only the tiredness had become less. I opened my eyes slowly, and instantly shut them again. The light was just way too harsh.

'Damnit...' I muttered.

'What's wrong?' Beyond asked me.

'How can you still even _ask_ that? Isn't it obvious?' I answered, whining a bit. '_Everything'_s wrong now. Every single thing!'I tried flickering my eyes open once again, and stared straight into Beyond's scarlet eyes. 'Sometimes I just wish... why can't I be dead like you? With so much less to worry about?'

He smiled now, and laughed a few seconds. 'I'm sorry, Strawberry,' He said. 'But that lifespan you have there is still quite long.' He blinked a moment, the added quietly, barely audible even though he was only a few inches away from me: 'Both lifespans are...'

* * *

**Next one, please~!**


	9. Oh, sure, torture me a bit more

**If it didn't explain itself yet, then here's the explanation for Beyond's "ominous" words;**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

Both lifespans? What the heck was Beyond talking about? Somewhere, I knew the answer already, somehow. But it just... wouldn't come to me. Not clearly. Wide-eyed, I stared at Beyond and slowly pushed myself up and sat. 'W-what do you mean, _both_?'

He blinked at me, then smiled. But even though it was only for a brief second, a shadow of something passed over his face as well. 'I mean that you either have two lifespans of your own, or there's something in there that has one as well,' While saying this, he lifted his hand and pointed at my belly, smiling only wider now. 'And since that first thing is impossible, then it must be the latter, right?'

No...oh no, damnit... How could he smile now? How could he be happy about it, it's... it's a disaster, at the least. And besides, 'That's impossible!' I protested, though it did make sense, with how I had felt lately. 'You're not even alive anymore, it shouldn't be possible!' and I was damn right about that. It was impossible for a Shinigami to have children, and even though he was still part human... no, he's dead. It just isn't true.

He shrugged, and got up now, too. 'I don't know how, either, Iris. But a Shinigami's Eyes never decieve their owners, and I'm without s doubt seeing a lifespan down there, as well as one above your head. Exactly what I had seen with Naomi, before Nessa was born, and other people I passed by on the street, for example.'

Yeah, I believed that... why wouldn't I, when it made so much sense, no matter how much I wanted it to not exist? Now, think... last time was when I heard my book'd be published, which is almost four weeks ago, that's one month... one down, eight to go. Damnit, no. That's way too short, it should be more like... an eternity. Just, never. That is, not an eternity while it's actually still growing, that'd be... yikes.

Then Beyond made a mistake. A severe one. 'But it'll be fine, Iris, really.'

Rage welled up in me, accompanied by sheer panic. 'No, it won't!' I yelled back at him. 'It won't be fine, and you know it! I can't do this, Beyond, I can't be a mother! I don't have a clue of how to take care of a kid, and I can't even afford it! Plus, there's enough going on already without a baby to take care of as well! You know it's gonna be a disaster, and you're just as worried as I am!' Right. I didn't hit close to home just now at all, oh no...

I hit his front door.

Beyond opened his mouth as to say something, but instantly closed it again. Ofcourse, he had nothing to say to that. I had been damned well right, after all. Saying not a word more, I stood up and went to the living room, where I proceeded to crash down on the couch instead. Damnit, now I definitely lost all motivation to do anything but sulk and drown in an ocean of self-pity.

Okay, more lining up to do... oh joy. How the hell was this even possible, Beyond is part-Shinigami. He's dead. Yet, he's managed to produce..._ this_. Oh sure, makes so much sense, doesn't it? Anyway, he's a Shinigami. Not only is it imposible for a Shinigami, should there be some strange twist of whatever that _does_ enable them to, it's forbidden.

Oh, he's so screwed once the Shinigami King learns of this.

Then; how the hell am I gonna explain this to my family? "_Well, yeah, I know I never date and all, and I have most certainly not been raped or whatever, but guess what, I'm pregnant. Yeah, I don't know how, either, it just sorta happened, y'know._" Like that will work...

So that's something I must think of as well.

Okay, next point; as I have oftenly mentioned already, I earn just enough money to take care of myself, so how am I gonna be able to afford a kid as well. Yeah, that's not the first thing one may think about when they think about having a family, but there's always the never ending problems with money. Always. That is, unless you're just filthy rich, then it won't matter. Problem is, I'm not. No, a librarian and amature author... that doesn't pay much, now does it?

And lastly, what the heck is in there? Its father was a Shinigami, only part human, and I was part Shinigami as well, though my body was still completely human with exception of the fact that neither disease nor injury could kill it. So I wondered what that kid would be. Shinigami, perhaps? Wouldn't that be a little impossible, a human bearing a Shinigami? Yeah, so that wouldn't be it. Maybe... maybe it'd have the same curse of Shinigami Eyes as Beyond had, or my almost-immortality? I'd prefer that last one, those Eyes might drive anyone crazy. Why I had wanted them, the moment I realised what I was, has become mystery even to myself.

Okay, four things to worry about now, aside from all the other stuff about wether or not my old "fantasy" life will become reallity for the rest of the world as well.

Hey, that makes me wonder, how would the authors of the series react if they saw their own characters roaming Earth's streets?

Off topic, Iris, that's too off topic! I sighed.

Time in the worlds were synchronizing, and they might just become one and the same world eventually. My little sister now goes there as well, and I don't know yet about my other sis, or my brother, or anyone else for that matter. Misa Amane is here in this world already, just like Taro Kagami was, years ago, and more will follow. I don't know when they will become real, but the fictional characters will not be fictional for much longer. Beyond has severely violated the Shinigami law, and will be in a lot of trouble with their King. And on top of that...

...I will become a mother in eight months.

Yeah, life is beautiful, really. Oh, how I love life... ugh.

* * *

**Alright, that only adds up to the rest, doesn't it?**

**And I promise, the next chapter (which'll be "special" again) might just be the longest chapter for OBA yet, and I'll post it tomorrow!**

**Then... I'm pretty frustrated. I have all the Death Note manga volumes in my house currently. I can already see them all, packed together in a pretty box-set... only problem is, they're for my birthday as well as christmas, and I'll have to wait till christmas before I can even lay a finger on them! Now, my birthday is on December 18th, so between that and xmas won't be such a long wait, but it's still more than a month from now. Why, my parents, why u so mean tah meh?!**

**Oh well, I'll have to have patience...**

**Thanks for reading, and really, I promise the next chapter is way longer!**


	10. No Explanation

**Well well, didn't I say I'd post a long chapter, hmm? Even without the author's drabbles here, it's exactly 2810 words long!**

**And special, oh yes!**

**Disclaiimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Damian's PoV~ (Iris; OMG not Damian! Me; OMG, yush! Damian.)**

I always had an explanation ready. Always, for everything.

But this must be one of the first things ever, that I just couldn't explain.

Had I not seen these faces before somewhere, just slightly... different? Yes, I'm pretty sure I had. I just don't know when, or where, or who they were... how infuriating.

I was in what looked to be a hotel room, only, there were other people in here, a whole group of them, and the technology they had in here wasn't something you'd see in an everyday hotel, either. Just what was going on? All the men -there were seven of them- were staring at me. Why, yes, I had just appeared out of nowhere in front of them, so it was a fairly natural reaction. The oldest of them, who looked to be somewhere between sixty and seventy and from all I could tell, he was either English or Scottish, though I think it's the former, now walked over to one of the youngest -if not _the_ youngest of them, someone my age- and quietly said something to him in a foreign language. One that I unfortunately knew all too well, though I didn't understand even a single word of it. My younger, rather immature sister, Iris, had made hopeless attempts of speaking it when she was younger. Japanese. Oh, ofcourse.

I just blinked at them, and they blinked back, and that repeated over and over, untill the man who looked to be my age, stood up. Not only did he look like a homeless person -though one with a good sense of hygiene, I could immediatly see that much- he had the same posture as one, hunched over completely, clothes that looked five sizes to big on him -how it did not simply fall off of his thin frame, I have no idea- no shoes, no socks, messy hair that I did not even want to wonder about when it was last combed or cut, or tended to in any way, and then there was... the rest. Skin so pale he could easily have been a corpse, had he not obviously shown vital signs by walking and breathing, and bags so large and dark he looked like he had spent his whole life sleeping under a bridge. Yet, he had this air of authority around him, which made me convinced he was the leader of these men.

Just what had I gotten in to...

'You don't look Japanese, so I assume you have no knowledge of the language at all, either,' The man concluded as he looked at me with his coal-black eyes. Well, for a homeless person, he knew very well which words to use in this situation, I'll give him that. 'I do hope you speak English, though. If not, I know enough others of which one must be your native language.'

Yes, he was good with words, no doubt. I shook my head in response. 'No, my English is just fine.' I looked at the man a moment longer, then looked at the others behind him, who looked to be trying hard to follow this, shall I say, "conversation", even though it could hardly be called one. All except the English man, that is. Then I turned back to their leader-figure, who looked at me unblinking, clearly wondering how I had suddenly appeared here. If only I could, I would've given him the answer if that'd make him stop staring at me with his cold gaze. It was already beginning to get on my nerves. Quite honestly, he, as well as the other men behind him -though it was especially this hobo- looked like something from some kind of cartoon. More specifically, the kind Iris had always loved to watch. Anime. Yes, the senseless creations of the Japanese, the entertainment for the hopeless, anime.

Only they were, without a doubt, real. Perhaps my father's theory had been right, that the Japanese make their anime characters look the way they do -plain weird- because they look like it themselves.

Then Hobo-man spoke again. 'First, I would like to have an explanation for your sudden... entrance.' It was clearly a demand, and the natural authority he seemed to have on everyone around him, even me, almost forced me to answer.

'I'm sorry, sir,' "Sir", was something that just didn't seem right when you adressed someone like him, with his appearance, but I didn't want to sound rude. He might be an intelligent homeless person, the men behind him looked like all but that. Less intelligent, but men who knew how to... "take care" of people. It wouldn't surprise me if they had weapons on them right this moment, and would pull them out the moment I said something wrong. 'Had I been able to, I wouldn't have hesitated to tell you every single detail of how I got here, but fact is, I don't even know myself.'

He didn't look to pleased with this, but made not attempt of asking it again. No, he looked as though he believed me. Then he opened his mouth to speak again, but I was first, ebing a little less careful just now.

'But,' I began, more demanding now. 'Since you've asked me a question already, I think it is only fair if I get the chance to get mine answered now, too.' Hobo blinked at me for a moment, then nodded. 'Very well.'

I gave him and the men behind him one last glance, as well as the hotel room, and asked: 'I would very much appreciate it if you told me who you are. If you do, then so will I.'

The other men let their eyes meet for a moment, then one of them shrugged. 'Alright, then. I am Matsui.'

And then followed the others, all with strange foreign names like "Asahi". The old man, the English one, called himself "Watari", which made me certain they were all aliases. That name was all but English, but the man himself was definitely not Japanese, or Asian at all. I narrowed my eyes, but made no comment on it. Then it was Hobo's turn. 'You may call me Ryuzaki.'

_Aliases, hmm? Well, I can do that, too_. 'Thank you. I am Daniel Gerren, from America.' My mouth twitched into somewhat of a smirk, as I added -which could just mean my death, if my suspicions about these men had been right. 'And now, I would like to know your real names instead of those weak aliases. Anyone could see through them.'

Somewhat of surprise lay in everyone's eyes, even Ho- Ryuzaki's. Then they all decided to give me their real names instead, sighing. 'I'm Matsuda,' That was the man who had called himself Matsui. Now, "Asahi" was actually Yagami, and then there were Ukita, Mogi, Aizawa... Watari refused to give any other name, though. Like I refused to admit I may have been wrong and that it was his real name. It simply couldn't be. Ryuzaki looked all but pleased right now, but eventually, he too just shrugged and said: 'Fine then. Call me Allen Lawliet.' Before I could answer -which I intended to do, seeing that I still suspected this to be an alias- he demanded. 'And you are, mr. Gerren?' Now he too smirked. A bit. Frankly, it couldn't be called anything more than a twitch of the lips. It made me wonder if he even had emotion at all.

Since they had all given me their real names, or at least five of them, I nodded. 'Right. Damian den Weerden. Though, _Allen_...' I added more quietly. 'Though I must admit I find this more believable, I still think you're using an alias. And so is Watari.'

A moment of silence passed before Allen, or Ryuzaki, or whoever he was, really smiled now. 'I must say, Damian, I think I like you. You're reasoning and deduction skills appear to be top-level, like mine.'

Well... I guess I'll take that as a complement, even if I'd prefer not to be compared to any of the men in this room, however intelligent they might be. Yet, I dipped my head politely to Allen. 'Thank you. Now, if I may, I would like to ask another question.'

'Ofcourse, you may ask. But we might not answer it, depending on what the question is.'

Well, that sounded good. Though a sharp retort lay on the tip of my tongue, I decided that my earlier actions could have been bad enough already, and that I should play safe from now on, even if this Allen-Ryuzaki-Hobo guy said he "liked me". What the hell does that mean... I hope nothing bad. 'That's okay. I'm just wondering, where am I, and what are you people. Not who, just... Well, sorry. But I guess you understand, don't you?'

Allen nodded, but it was Watari who took the liberty of answering this time. 'You are in Tokyo, Damian, in one of the many hotels here. Which one it is exactly, I will not tell you. Safety reasons, you see. And these men over here,' He added, pointing to the few people who actually looked Japanese. 'Are from the NPA.' _Police officers, huh? Well, at least I was right that they may have weapons with them._ I thought, before looking at Watari, blinking once but staying quiet. He got my message instantly. 'Ah, yes... Allen and I are detectives as well.'

Detectives? Okay, that was one thing I did not expect from Hobo-man. Watari, alright. The man didn't particularly look like a detective, but he could actually pull it off, wether it was true or not. But Allen? Like I have mentioned a rather high amount of times already, he looks like someone who spends all day under a bridge. But not a single twitch of my face revealed my thoughts just now, ofcourse. Instead, I just said: 'Ah, and since they are from the police, I assume you're working on a case here?' The answer I got was not at all surprising.

'Indeed.' That was Allen again. I turned back to look at him again. He had gotten a step or two closer, and that made me feel strangely uncomfortable. Or, scrap the "strangely". No one'd feel comfortable around a person like this. He was looking straight at me again, not blinking with his dark eyes. 'And quite honestly, I think... I think, that I can trust you enough to tell you which case.' He then looked down at the floor, considered it for a moment, and shook his head afterwards. 'No, sorry. That might be a bad idea. Perhaps I will tell you, but I'm pretty sure you can figure it out yourself even sooner.' He then turned back to the NPA, spoke to them in Japanese, and went to a chair beside a coffee table that was filled with all sorts of files. He sat down, though...

...

The moment I saw him on that chair, balancing on his feet, knees drawn up to his chest and almost curled into a ball, holding one of the files in front of him between only his thumb and index finger and the thumb of his other hand pressed to his bottom lip, a way too familiar image from the past made itself master of my mind. I could think two things now.

_Iris... Death Note..._

Yes, Iris had sat like that countless of times, after she had begun to watch the anime-series, Death Note. And now, everything seemed to fall into place like the pieces of a puzzle clicking together.

They looked more like anime characters than regular humans, they used aliases, five of the seven were police officers, and together, they're working on a case here. Matsuda, Yagami, Aizawa, Watari, Mogi... they were all familiar names. How often had I not heard them coming from my sister's mouth, as she once again spoke of her obsession? As for Hobo-man, his first alias had been _Ryuzaki._ Way too familiar, as well. And his second, _Allen_...

Al-len. L-len. _L_.

But this... it was impossible. This was real, it felt and looked real... yet, it was impossible. It shouldn't be real... No, it was an anime-series, fiction. Pure fiction. And never before has fiction been reality, no, that's _non-_fiction. But because this felt so real, I decided not to show anything of my shock and confusement right now. Instead, I walked over to the coffee table where Allen -L- sat, and pointed to the files. 'May I?' Without looking up, the weird detective nodded. Strange, was he not always careful as to not give away any information? I just picked a few sheets up, sat down on a couch, and gave them a quick scan. And there was yet another familiar name; Kira.

But who was that again? Oh, right. If I remember well, the case they were working on was called the Kira-case or something. So this Kira must be the criminal they're after. Strange, the name Kira didn't sound so threatening, yet he -though at first I always thought _she_, because of the feminine name- was the world's greatest mass-murderer in the is series. I kept on reading them, and soon enough, the NPA, or task force, joined us in the investigation. Actually, this was interesting, very interesting. If this series had been all about this particular case, then I might just begin to understand why Iris liked it so much. First of all, Kira was suspected of being able to kill people while only knowing their name and face. Secondly, according to the times that these criminals -another thing; he killed only criminals- had died, I though it might well be posssible that this murderer was nothing more than a student, perhaps even a child. This possibility was even disturbingly high. How could a child ever think of killing so many people, and more importantly, why and how did he do it?

I guess I don't have to say, this case intrigued me a lot. I had always had a love for crime and punishment on tv, or in books. A good detective-novel, or series like NCIS and Bones had always been my favorites. I didn't mind the gore of seeing burned or rotted or mutilated corpses, and the thrill of going after criminals was something that had always interested me, as well as the satisfaction of finally bringing them to justice. I spent hours looking at these files, not saying a word and hardly being aware of the task force taking a break after a while, and even Allen did so. While the policemen just took this time to relax a little bit, Allen had decided to play some chess against himself.

Seeing that, I had to fight back the urge to just sigh. Who plays chess on his own? So I stood up and walked over to him, asking if he minded if I played with him. He didn't. And while we were moving the chess pieces over the board, we got into a conversation.

'This case you're working on, the Kira-case,' I said. 'It's intriguing, to say the least.'

He smirked. 'I told you you'd figure it out yourself before I'd tell you.' He moved his knight, getting me in a pretty difficult situation. But there was just one thing he didn't see.

As I defeated his knight with my queen, I answered: 'Well, yes, it was pretty obvious, seeing as his name was on at least eighty-seven percent of the files.'

He growled quietly as he saw the mistake he had made, then said: 'So you count in percentages?'

'Not that often.'

'Hm. Then maybe we're not as much alike as I thought we were. The amount of things we have in common has dropped with fourteen percent now, leaving only fourty-eight.' Then he went silent, holding his thumb to his lip again, obviously deep in thought. He seemed somehow frustrated, yet happy as well. Perhaps it's been a while since he's had someone to play chess with who actually made it quite a challenge for him. That was true for me, at least. I haven't played a chess game that was this hard in a long time. When he finally decided, Allen made his next move, what at first glance would seem like the perfect thing to do. What a shame it was such a fatal mistake, then.

So I made a move again, too, and declared: 'Checkmate.'

For a moment, he looked surprised, but then he only made a sound that could be defined as somewhat of a laugh. 'Very well done, Damian. The only person who could ever beat me was Watari. When I was eight, that is.' He looked up at me now, almost smiling as he said: 'So, want to join the Kira investigation?'

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**Horay for my dear brother~!**

**I will keep him for the next chapter, and perhaps a few more as well. Also, I will keep refering to L as "Allen" when it's Damian's PoV, so don't get confused with that.**

**Well, I hope you liked it and thanks for reading!**


	11. Wondering

**Whee, me gotz another long chappy~!**

**And I'm udloading this while I'm supposed to sleep, and the chapter itself will most likely be posted at school tomorrow... or today, whatever. O_O' I hope it won't be seen, though!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Damian's PoV (again)~**

It was now two days since I had suddenly found myself in the midst of fiction-come-true, the Kira case from Death Note. I still had no logical explanation for my sudden swicth of dimension -I now believed this was indeed not a dream, since it lasted so long and felt so real- and not a moment have I been bored. No, there was always work to do in here. I missed my family, I knew we'd have one of our "gatherings" again soon, and I was worried about what they thought now that I was gone. I worried about my study, too. I was on my last year there, and every day of college was vital if I wanted to pass my exams.

But I couldn't regret being here, no matter how hard I tried. I just couldn't bring myself to feel bad at all. I now saw with my own eyes what had made Iris so obsessed with this series, why she was always talking of how much she loved that one character, L, along with some others. L. I had always believed he would be some weird idiot, a complete and utter moron, ever since I first heard his... "name". What a name it was, that single letter. But in this world, it really _was_ a huge name, everyone knew him, yet no one -exept for the task force and me- could place a face beside the name. He was weird, alright, exentric to say the least, but not at all an idiot. I coulnd't remember ever having had conversations with anyone, with maybe the exeption of a few professors at university, like I could have with him. He was probably one of the most intelligent people on Earth, like Iris had said so many times, but that means Kira must be, too. After all, Kira has been able to avoid being caught for several months now, which was really extraordinary.

There was one more thing that worried me; where were the other characters my sister had talked about so many times? What were their names again?... Ah, right; BB, or Beyond, and Marrow? Something like it. And then there was Matt, but surely he wouldn't be much of a threat. For all I ever heard about him, he may be a genius, but one that was really wasting his life playing games and turning his own lungs into coal with the amount of cigarrets he smoked. But he had a gun, didn't he? And so did that Marrow, Minnow, Jello... yes, that was it, _Mello_. He owned guns as well, several. And didn't he have his own Mafia gang or something?

He was dangerous, no doubt.

But I forced those thoughts to the back of my mind. If they weren't here, that was only a good thing. Right now, it was midnight, give or take, and I had only just woken up. Still half-asleep, I walked -though swayed would be a good dicription as well- to the main investigation part of this hotel room. Watari-san (when did I start calling the men here -_san_? Oh well, it didn't matter) and Allen had invited me to stay here with them, after I explained to them how I had nowhere to go, nor had any money to rent a room of my own. Besides the three of us, there was the occassional task force member that stayed here as well, but by far no every night. Tonight, however, Yagami-san had decided to stay, now that his own family was under suspicion of holding Kira, and were under constant surveillance using countless cameras that were secretely placed in their house, as well as wiretaps. They weren't left alone a single second, watched by either Allen or Soichiro himself, but no one else. Which is why I expected to be send away the moment I entered the dark room that was lit only by the many tv-screens displaying a sleeping Yagami-household, but that wasn't the case.

As I walked to the couch where Allen and Yagami-san sat, I immediately saw the latter being sound asleep, just like his wife and two children. Watari wasn't here either, and I assumed he had gone to get some rest as well. As for Allen, the complete insomniac who I hadn't seen asleep in the few days I had already been here, he too looked about to just give way to the persistent tiredness that had already forced him to close his eyes partially. I went to stand beside him, and asked: 'How's it going here?' No answer, so I repeated my question, leaning a bit closer to him. The exhausted detective blinked once, very slowly, then opened his mouth to answer, but got no chance as a large yawn came instead. After that, he said: 'Sorry for that... for all I see, there are no changes in their behaviour...so everything is going fine...for Yagami-san, that is... I would-' Another yawn. 'Sorry. I would prefer to find Kira as soon as possible, whoever he is...' His mumbling was hardly audible, and I went to sit between him and the sleeping Soichiro.

'So would I,' I said, quietly as to not wake up the man on my right. But he, too, hadn't slept in a while, and looked out like a light. So whatever I said, he probably wouldn't wake up. 'But these kids, this woman... they look so innocent. Surely none of them can be Kira?'

Beside me, the detective's breath had grown deeper and slower. If he wasn't already, he'd fall asleep within seconds, that was obvious. 'Yes...' He mumbled. 'Yet, I believe... the chance Light Yagami is Kira...' _is five percent._ I finished for him. He had said so yesterday, when the surveillance started. 'It's close to twenty...' What? That's fifteen more than he said last time, so had the boy done something Allen didn't admit right now, or had he lied the first time? Before I could ask anything about it, Allen went on: 'To be honest,' I really had to try hard to hear his voice now. The poor guy, he should really stop toturing himself so much and sleep a bit more often. 'When you first...appeared... I suspected you as well, Damian...' Yeah, I could understand that. I had appeared out of nowhere, and since Kira had a perhaps-supernatural (I was completely skeptical about everything that was considered paranormal or supernatural, always have been, but the last days couldn't have any other discription for all I knew) killing methods, it wouldn't seem so strange, suspecting me of being Kira. Science couldn't explain my sudden appearance a few days ago, now could it? 'But I've really grown to trust you... so quickly already... that's unusuall...'

'Yeah, I trust you as well, Allen.' I said, but doubted he even heard. No more answer came, now that he had fallen asleep. which gave me the time to think about his words just now. He didn't seem like the person to trust others at all, so how he could have trusted me, a total stranger who just suddenly came here, was really a mystery. And I didn't lie when I told his that I trusted him too. Not only that, I almost thought of him as a friend. I...I hadn't really called anyone a friend in a long time, in years... then how come my first friend in all this time was someone that wasn't even real, or at least not where I came from.

Without really being able to control it, thoughts flooded my mind, messages for my family. I hoped they could hear them._ Dad, Amy, mom... please don't worry about me, I'm fine. I never thought I'd say this, Iris, but I really wish you were here right now, you could've helped me so much with this...and Lisha, Shayen... my god, apparently it is possible to miss hyperactive-idiocy. And I'm sorry I'll miss family day, everyone. I've never missed one before. But please, don't worry, I'm okay, and I'll figure out how to get back soon. I will, I promise._

Then again- do I really want to leave my friend behind? I mean, I missed my family, and I wanted them back, I wanted to be home again, but I really enjoyed being here as well. And-

My thoughts were cut off by a sound from my left, and I turned to look at Allen. He was in his usuall curled-up position, but much... tenser. In his sleep, which didn't seem very peaceful, he looked almost like a cornered child who was surrounded by bullies, with no adults or escape routes nearby. It made me wonder what it was exactly he was dreaming, but then again, maybe I didn't even want to know. Who knows what he has seen in his life, what horrors he had experienced. He made another sound, which to me sounded like a moan, a whine, perhaps even a sob, and seemed to want to curl into an even smaller ball. I knew it probably wouldn't work, but I asked him anyway: 'Are you okay, Allen?' He twitched, then seemed to mumble something. Okay, scrap the "it won't work", we have a sleeptalker here! Though I didn't hear what he had just said, I answered: 'Oh? How come?' Hoping it wouldn't sound too weird as response to his words just now.

'...don't want to... never have...' Was all that I could hear now. He doesn't want... and he never has wanted it in the first place. But what did he mean? When I asked this:

'M'job...too stressful...too painful...' Okay, that was a clear answer. So he had never wanted to be a detective? Or were these all bits and pieces of a completely different story? No, it didn't sound like that. 'Then why did you even start, Allen? If you didn't want this job?' I asked, hushing my voice a bit more as Soichiro shifted on my other side. Thank goodness he didn't wake up, though.

'I had to...' Allen muttered. Then he got a troubled expression on his face, eyes still closed. 'Had no choice...' I thought I could hear anger in his voice now, mixed with frustration and sadness. This reminded me of something I had read somehwere, or heard, a long time ago, though I had no idea where or from who or what I got this.

_On the outside, people have the ability to hide every single thought and every single emotion, how strong these may be. But nothing is a secret for yourself, nothing can be hidden inside your own conscience._

I sighed as the detective resumed his deep, constant breathing and said not a thing more, and without really thinking, laid a hand over his shoulders. Now hat he got this off of his chest, he seemed to have calmed down again a bit, though he kept on twitching ever so slightly every few minutes All this... it made me wonder who it was that left him with no choice in the whole being a detective thing. And also, because of my own thoughts about my family a few minutes before, where was _his _family? Surely there must be someone close to him, or a distant relative that was still alive? I almost thought _does he even have a family?_ but that would've been ridiculous. Yes, my own family, wether they were called den Weerden or otherwise, was spread around the whole world; Holland, Germany, England, but also America, Australia, somewhere in Asia I was sure to have a distant relative as well, and my biological grandfather (whom I had hardly known before he died, I-don't-know-how-many years ago) had lived in the middle-east. Allen may have no parents anymore, or siblings or any close family, but somewhere there must be someone related to him.

Did he even realise that? And if he did, did he even care?

I gave one more glance at his still-tense form, which gave me my answer:

_Yes, he cares. That guy's been far too lonely for far too long._

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**Naww... writing this made me really go "Daawwww, kawaii!", probably because I can actually see my brother do this XD Though it'd be weird if he did!**

**BTW, he doesn't even know I'm writing a character based on him, let alone in that character's -his- point of view... I wouldn't want to know what happens if he finds out. There are two possibilities; either he won't care and simply shrug and forget it, or he'll get mad... I hope it'll be the first!**

**Okay, enough drabbling and babbling here, I'm getting tired... plus there's school tomorrow, as well as a test...*yawn***

**So thanks for reading, and I hope you like it!**


	12. Math Problems

**Whoa, short one!**

**But that's okay, I have two chapters for today, and the next one is longer.**

**And I have one thing to say: I will write a little less for a while, because I've written so much lately, both handwriting and typing, that I've come pretty damn close to developping something like RSI in my wrist...so I'll take it easy with that one for a while.**

**Which basically means; less updates, at least not daily anymore. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Madeline's PoV~**

I had my hand gently on Iris' abdomen, and felt a small, still invisible but most definitely existing swelling there. My god, she was right... After a few seconds, I pulled away again and looked up at her. She sighed as she pulled her shirt straight again, tear-streaks still visible on her face. Beyond sat beside her, I could see him. At first, ofcourse, I couldn't, but it had already been several years since I had touched her Death Note in this world as well as in the other. And he looked... just as bad as she did now.

'What am I gonna do now, Mads?' Iris mumbled. 'I can't... I can't take care of that little one, I just can't. Especially not with what's coming, that day...' She meant the day the two worlds would become the same, a day we both were not happy to see coming nearer with the second. She already had her legs drawn up to her chest now, somewhat like L, but she only seemed to want to get even smaller as she pulled her knees even closer and placed her chin on them, fresh tears already welling up in her eyes. 'A-and now D-Damian has gone misssing, t-too.'

I sighed. Yes, that was true. She had told me today, that he's been gone for a week already. He just disappeared, and no one seemed to know to where. Except for us. The poor girl, having all this shit already, and then she lost her brother to the Death Note dimension as well. But which one, that was the real question. There were several, after all. You had the anime, the manga, the movies, novels, and then there was also "our" world, and probably several others as well. I hadn't known Damian that well, though, but I knew that he was smart, careful and quick-thinking. 'Wherever he is,' I said. 'I'm sure he's okay. As for everything else, Iris, you're not in it alone. You have Beyond, me, and your whole family, like I do.' Yes, I'm sure that, if I ever told them, my family would support me.

She nodded slowly, and then tried supressing her sobs to answer. 'I-I kno-ow. S-sorry for making it s-seem like I think I-I'm the only-y one...' Then she shook her head, wiped her face with her sleeve, sat upright and smiled at me. 'Th-thanks, Mads. Really.'

I smiled as well, and thought of something that might just make the mood in here a bit brighter again. Eventually, I got an idea, but hoped it wouldn't be a bad one. 'So, Iris, Beyond,' I began. 'Do you have any hopes for what little one will be?'

'Dead?' Iris answered, almost making it sound like a question. Then we both laughed, and I shook my head. 'No, silly! I mean the gender!' Okay, we laughed, that was a good thing. Bad thing was, I knew that she meant what she had said just now. To this, Iris just shrugged. 'No, I don't particularly care what it'll be, so long as it's human.' That said, she laughed again as she gave Beyond a rather rough poke on the shoulder and added: 'Which I doubt, actually!'

Yeah, I did too. A Shinigami and half-Shinigami, what would come from that was questionable. After all, no one knows wether being a Shinigami is in the genes or just something you are or not. After all, if Beyond's parents had been Shinigami they wouldn't have been killed, and I absolutely doubted Cornelis and Johanna were demons. However weird it may be, it might well be a normal human.

I put that all aside, and turned to Beyond. 'So, B, you're the genius in here; have you figured out when the worlds will, er... collide, shall we say?'

He shrugged, and shook his head apologetically. 'No, sorry. I'm working on it, though. But my guess is, is that it'll be sometime between now and, let's say... half a year or so.'

Well, that was accurate... oh, where are all the mathematical genii when you need them?! I mean, Iris and I, we were quite intelligent, alright. Beyond was a genius, but things like this weren't exactly his thing, it seems...

'Maybe... maybe we'll need L to help us with this.' I thought, apparently out loud, which instantly caught the attention of both Iris and Beyond.

'Damnit, Mads...' Beyond began, and Iris finished for him: 'You're a genius.'

'Or Near, for that matter. Depends on which world we go to first.' I went on, as though I had not heard my two friends just now. Aw... they called me a genius. Arigato~!

Iris nodded. 'Well, best thing would be Near from the movies. He may be Korean and unable to speak any other language than that, but he's a mathematical prodigy.' Oh yeah, that kid. Well, I was thinking about albino-Near, but Korean-Near is fine, too. Yeah, so long as someone will help us out here.

I mean, who wouldn't want to know the exact date of their world's doom?

* * *

**Next chappy is up~!**


	13. Reunion

**Now this one is long again...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

Already two weeks after that conversation, I hadn't had a single movie-verse dream yet, though there was enough Death Note, and Madeline hadn't had any luck so far, either. But we had already asked L for help, and Naomi had agreed to help as well. So soon, we would hopefully get an answer to our question.

Okay, two good things for a change; I was dreaming about DN again, though I wasn't sure yet which version it was. And the second was that I still managed to hide little one from my family and everyone else close to me, even though it had been in there for two months already. Yeah, I'm good at hiding things, why else would I have managed to go to another dimension for three years without anyone knowing, or have had a Death Note for six years while no one but Madeline has seen it so far? Hiding a child? Pffft, easy. Piece of cake!

...cake, hm? Yes, I'd like tha-

I glared down at the row of numbers floating in front of me, and internally scolded: _Little one, no cake for you now! You'll have to wait a while before you get something sweet again, I want to make sure I don't eat anything unhealthy for a while! That'll make it easier to hide you, you see._ Oh really, that phase had started last week... it also seemed to like strawberry jam, like me and Beyond... and other sweet stuff. What, was there a little L-copy growing inside of me or something? Usually I'd have gotten sick if I ate things as sweet as I consumed occasionally now, but it just doesn't happen anymore.

Oh, right. I had to find out which world this was. Who knows, maybe I'm lucky and this is the movie-verse for once? But if it is, will it be _L; Change the WorLd_, or one of the two other movies? I sighed as I walked further along the streets, to where I knew by now the task force's HQ would be. And if it wasn't that one, then I knew where the next one was, and so on.

And fate had decided to not turn against me now, it was the very first one I went to, still a hotel room. So that means, even if it is a movie, there won't be our little Near in here. Oh joy.

Well, lucky me, I still remembered the code as if it was only yesterday I last had to use it. So I just typed it in, and opened the door, walking in to HQ, greeted by the stunned glances of the task force and L...and...

I froze, my eyes growing wide, as another blue pair of eyes had the same reaction at meeting mine. _Remember to breathe, Iris..._ a voice in the back of my head told me, repeating it, louder and louder, until I actually listened. I inhaled sharply, and then broke out sobbing, tears welling up in my eyes as I shook my head slowly. No, this couldn't be true... it just can't be... I pushed those thoughts away, and without thinking, dashed forward and flung my arms around the one person I had missed so much in the last month. 'Damian!' I exclaimed. 'It's you, it's really you!'

Usually, I couldn't even get close to my brother without getting a glare with the message _don't you dare to hug me_, but this time, he just returned my embrace. 'Iris,' He said, and I could hear he was actually supressing sobs himself now -I had never seen him cry, not that I remembered, that is. 'My god, I missed you... How have you been, and the others?'

I held Damian tighter as I answered: 'We all missed you, ofcourse. All of us were worried...'

There came a voice, ruining our reunion. 'Damian, who is this?' Oh, I knew that voice all too well. I moved away from Damian now, but refused to go any further from him than where I had claimed a spot beside him on the couch. Damian blinked at the detective, then said: 'Oh, sorry. I eh... forgot you were here for a moment, Allen.' _Allen?_ I thought._ Is that L's new alias? What happened to "Ryuzaki"? _Like that even matters. 'This is my sister, Iris. I believe I have told you about her already?'

L nodded, then looked at me with two observing, black eyes. It was still strange, seeing him like this, knowing that he was not the same person as the L I knew and befriended, yet seeing exactly the same face, the same eyes, the same posture... the same person. Before he could say anything, though, Damian said to me: 'Iris, I bet you've already noticed, but... this is L, though he goes by the alias Allen here, or Ryuzaki. And over there are Watari-san, Yagami-san, Aizawa-san, Mogi-san, Ukita-san and Matsuda-san. The task force.' I nodded, and decided: _oh, whatever, I'll tell him. _'I know, Damian. I've been going to this world, and other versions of the Death Note universe, like the movies or the manga, sometimes even novels and specials, since my thirteenth.'

His eyes widened like an owl's. 'Y-you're kidding me, aren't you? All this time... for nine years... you've been going to this world?'

I nodded again. 'Though it is my first visit here, it seems, since L and the task force don't know me yet.'

He shook his head in disbelief and astonishment. 'Why have you never told anyone?' To this, I stared him straight in the eyes and demanded: 'Would you have believed me?' No answer, so I did it for him. 'No. No, you would've sent me to an asylum, thinking of how I had finally lost my mind.' At the very least, that is. I don't exactly know what they'd have done, but it would be somewhere along those lines. Now that I said this, I decided I might as well tell him everything else. Well, most of it. 'Also... I own a Death Note, and along with that came a Shinigami, Beyond Birthday.' I was cut off by a scream from L, who stumbled backwards and fell, back to the opposite wall and black eyes wide with shock. 'B-Backup's a... a Sh-Shinigami? H-how's that even possible? D-do Shinigami e-exist?!' I rolled my eyes. Well, that's one more world I changed, then. 'Yeah, but I'll explain later. Or I might not explain it at all, whatever.' I sighed, annoyed by this, then turned my attention back to Damian. 'And er...I'm a Shinigami as well. Partially. Like, I can't be killed in any way, and after I die -naturally of old age- I'll become a Shinigami.' When I saw my brother's stunned gaze, eyes almost as wide as L's were, I asked in a small voice: 'Y-you're not mad, are you? That I never told anyone? Do you even... do you believe it?'

He shook his head slowly, and I stared at the ground. But then he said: 'Y'know, Iris... since I came here, I believe pretty much everything... so eh... what's a Shinigami again?'

My mouth now twitched into somewhat of a smile again, and I answered: 'I'm a... Goddess of Death...'

Silence. Pure silence and the same shocked, stunned look as just now. That was all I got back from him. Not a single word...

'But I...' I stammered, biting my lip. 'I'm still me... it-it's not like I'm not Iris anymore, I'm still just me... even if I'm...not human...' Please... please, don't let this be a problem!

There was another moment of silence, before Damian nodded. 'Yeah, I already expected somthing like that from you!' He laughed, though it sounded a bit forced. 'My sister the Death Goddess, heheh. Since you read and wrote and drew about death and blood from you eleventh, I already thought there must be something not quite normal about you.' He chuckeled a bit more, then added: 'But you're right; it doesn't change you. I'll...I'm sorry if my behaviour towards you does change a bit, but... I hope you understand that that's quite a natural reaction.'

I nodded. Yes, that was fair. I had only hoped not to be pushed aside, to be abandoned by him, or anyone else because of this. Then there was... should I tell him that, too? Nervously, I looked down, hoping that it'd look like I was staring at the floor again. But instead, it were the numbers, bouncing up and down in the midst of a red haze, like every person's lifespan did. Should I tell him...?

No. No, this'll stay my secret for as long as I can keep it. And I was pretty damn sure that was way longer than until today. _Yup, you'll be hidden well, little one. A good little secret until it's... not so secret anymore...yup._ Okay, a few days ago, I wished the thing would die, and now I was mentally talking to it, almost _purring like a cat?_ It all does strange things to someone...

Putting that aside again, I told Damian: 'You know, Madeline and I -you know Madeline, right?- we're still trying to figure out when it'll happen, but we know that sometime soon, this world, as well as all the others from this series and perhaps even more, and our world will collide, become... mixed. That's why you came here, too, and it's the only reason that anime characters are appearing in our world.'

Damian nodded. 'I see. So... you have no idea when?'

'Well... Beyond said it'd be before the end of this year, but...' I shrugged. 'But that's not exactly much to go on, is it?' ...I could practically slap myself on the head right now. Ofourse, L and Damian could help while I'm here. 'So eh... guys, maybe you might fihure it out. A little bit of math won't kill you, now will it?' On the other side of the room, L now stood up again -god, had he not done so already? Idiot- and walked over to me and my brother, looking curious. Damian just sighed, but didn't look too unwilling to try. 'So, here it is; six years ago -in our world- time ran two times faster here. In the course of the six years, time here has been slowing down, or our time is going faster, or a mixture of both. Whatever it is, six years at home have suddenly become seven years here. So, time has been changin from a point where it was twice as fast, to... this. Question is; when will the two time flows become the same?'

L pressed his thumb to his bottom lip, narrowed his eyes and seemed deep in thought. The he asked: 'What's the date in your world?'

'April third.'

Beside me, Damian sighed, sounding annoyed. 'Damn, I'll miss mom's birthday if I don't get out of here soon!' Yup. That would be the fifth, and thus, my mother's first birthday without her son ever since he has been born. Whatever, this was more important.

I looked at L again, my eyes brimming with hope. If he was able to figure it out now...

...then why couldn't the other version of him do so as well? Age wouldn't be a problem, that guy's the smartest man on Earth, anyway. Maybe because he hasn't done detective work ever since Light died? Beiing a detective and something like this don't really have much to do with eachother, now do they?

My heart almost began to flutter out of my chest as I saw L nod briefly, and a small, satisfied smile appeared behind his thumb. 'Well, my guess is, it'll be somewhere in August, between the seventh and the twelfth.'

And there I did something wrong. Terribly wrong. I jumped up, swung my arms around the detectives neck and hugged him so suddenly, he fell to the ground with me on top of him.

Talk about akward...

Somewhere behind me, I heard Beyond laugh: 'Hey hey, don't go cheating on me now, Strawberry!'

'Shut up!' I muttered, before getting off of L, and smiling so wide at him that my cheeks began to hurt. 'Thank you, L! Great Kami, you're like an angel! How the hell could you do that so fast, and-' I broke off, eyes wide, then glared at him. 'It wasn't just a guess, was it? Like, this is no lie, all true..._not a joke_?!'

L was scrambling backwards, startled by my expression and tone of my voice. Even Damian commented on it: 'Geesh, Iris! I knew you were scary, but I've never seen you _this_ bad yet!'

'Why yes, I was once a murderer...' I muttered softly, so quiet almost no one heard -thank Kami. I intensified my glare a bit more, knowing that I looked like I was about to kill L if he gave me the wrong answer -or no answer at all. '_Well?_'

'I-i-it's true!' L stammered, trying, but failing, to hide the fact I really scared the hell out of him now. Then he shook his head and got to his feet. 'I promise, Iris, that I did not lie. These worlds will, as you say, "collide" between August the seventh, and the twelfth, your world's date. And I guess, this one's as well, then.'

And there came my smile again. 'Good! Thank you, L-kun~!'

...Why do I always have to wake up on the worst of times? Dizzy like hell, and turned to Damian and said good-bye: 'Damian, I'll have to wake up now, and thus...leave. I'll tell everyone that you're all right, okay?'

He nodded. 'Thank you.' With a smile, he added: 'It was... good to see you again, sis. When the worlds become one, I'll see you again.'

I nodded, and added: 'Or perhaps earlier. Bye, Damian... and everyone else.'

Without a word more, I walked away and just made it out of the room beforeeverything became black, and I woke up, happier than I had been in weeks.

My brother is fine, he's working with L and the task force, fighting crime in a different dimension. Damn, I've always been proud to be his sister...

* * *

**Yay, Iris scared L _again_!**

**I'm good at scaring people, as well. I don't even have to do anything, or maybe tell someone about Death Note and how I love it, and they'll go like: _Damn, you're a creep_.**

**They're all so nice to me...**

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	14. Wait

**Sorry for the long wait, but I have good reasons this time!**

**Also; Happy birthday, Damian! (yup, November sixteenth is his birthday. He's seventeen now~!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Shayen's PoV (_finally_)~**

The family had been quite stressed for over two weeks now, since the disappearance of Damian. We've all been worried, especially dad and mom, and Johanna, who is Damian's mother. And Iris, his "real" sister. Well, Lisha and I were as much his sister as she was by now, yet there was this...thing... this feeling, that never left.

_We don't belong to the same family as much as they do._

No matter how I had always told myself that this wasn't true, I still felt like it. Sometimes.

And honestly, though I'm ashamed to say it, I think... I think the disappearance of Damian hit me less severely than the others. Ofcourse it hurt, ofcourse I was worried, but... less than dad, Johanna and Iris.

No, I was more worried about Lisha right now. She was... acting strange. She has been for several weeks now, muttering things about "stupid Iris" who "caused these dreams". I had asked her about it, many times already, but never did she tell me enough to actually make out what the problem is. Yeah, so much for our close twinsister-bond. Mom and dad have been asking her about it, too, but she told them even less. I don't even know what those dreams are she's talking about, what they're about, what she sees in them.

And then there's dad. Working has been hard for him for a while now, but it's become only harder now that he's so worried about his son. Which resulted in even more financial problems than we already had. No, we've never had allot of money, but that doesn't matter much. Money doesn't necessarily make happiness, now does it? Well, I'll be honest, ofcourse I'd like to have a bit more than this, especially now. Finances aren't the first thing we want to have on our minds now. But if we can't, then I'm okay with it.

The phone rang downstairs, I could hear it even from my bedroom. Axious, I went downstairs to the living room. Someone had already answered it, ofcourse. But that's not why I went here. No, we've all been hoping for a call lately, hopefully from the police, that they found Damian, and preferably alive. While dad was listening to someone on the other side of the line, I went to stand beside mom and Lisha, who were also listening intently. After a moment, dad nodded. 'I understand. Okay, I'll see you soon, then.' Well, that wasn't how he'd talk to someone from the police, that's obvious. 'Yes. Thank you, Iris.' Oh. It was Iris. Ofcourse it was her, what else could we have expected? I hoped we'd find him soon, ofcourse, but somewhere deep down... I already gave up hope on finding Damian, I guess. When dad put the phone down, mom demanded: 'Well? What is it? What did she say?'

Dad shrugged. 'Not much, only that she'd come here tonight, that she has something to tell us. Something important, from the sound of it.' A small smile appeared on his face, so small that it looked like he felt he had to stop it from being any wider. 'She said it's about Damian.'

Lisha gasped. 'Wh-what?!' She then exclaimed, voice flooding with dismay. 'She knows something about Damian, yet she wants to wait for tonight? What the hell?!'

Mom nodded, but then shook her head, smiling at Lisha's tone. 'Oh, it's almost five thirty already, Lisha. And she has a life of her own now, remember? I bet there's somethin she needs to do at the library, or at home.' Then she turned to dad, who had sat down at the table. 'How late did she say she'd come?'

'Somewhere around seven thirty or so. I'm sure she won't be long. Well, not very long, that is.' He answered, then added: 'Amy, I think it's about time we're making dinner, don't you think too?'

While mom nodded, Lisha exclaimed with a smile so big it made her look like a child again: 'I can do that, too!'

Laughing, out parents shook their head, and went to the kitchen. Lisha pouted for a moment, then went to the couch and began to watch tv. With a sigh, I went to sit beside her, wondering what it was that our sister would tell us this evening. Soon, the room was filled with the scents of baked potatoes, and a lote of other things as well. Time crawled by, and my mind was absent as I sat at the table with the others, and afterwards too.

Six o'clock. I walked with the dog for a few minutes. Six thirty. Sat on the couch again with everyone else, trying not to pay too much attention to the clock that ticked slower than it had in weeks. Seven o'clock. The doorbell rang. Lisha instantly stood up and bounced over to it, opening it to reveal... Johanna. Dad didn't seem too happy at seeing his ex, but when she explained how Iris had told her to be here, he just nodded rather reluctantly. With a new addition to our little group of waiting people, we waited. Again. I caught bits and pieces of a conversation, but that was pretty much it.

'I wonder why Iris wanted you to be here, too, Joh.' Lisha said. Yes, Joh. Her nickname for the woman we practically never saw, anyway. Stupid...

'Well, she said it's about Damian, right?' Mom said, to which the other woman added: 'If it's about my son, I gotta be there.'

Right. She was here, alright. We all were. Then where the hell was Iris, what was taking her so long? It was almost seven thirty, so she should be here soon. But I didn't want to wait, and neither did any of us.

And only ten minutes later, the doorbell rang again. This time, mom went to open it, but all of us followed her slowly.

And there she was. Iris, holding a plastic bag in one hand, her eyes gleaming strangely. Like someone with too much secrets, someone who knew she couldn't keep those secrets any longer, and however glad she was to finally reveal them... she was scared. A guilty smile formed on her face, and she made a small bow to us, saying something in what sounded Japanese. But perfect, flawless Japanese for a change. Where had she learned _that_?! Then she walked in slowly, placed her hand on the door as though she'd close it, but she waited a little bit before actually doing so, almost as if there was someone else who had to come in as well. Only thing is, there was no one else.

I was finding this whole thing more and more akward now.

Once we were all in the living room, gathered around the table, all eyes were locked on Iris. This seemed to make her feel only more uncomfortable, even though we were her family. She looked down on the table, meeting none of our gazes. 'I'm sorry I'm later than expected, everyone. I had some... difficulties...in preparing everything for this.' Then she looked up, her eyes suddenly shining with a whole different light. Somehow, it made my skin crawl. Then she stuck her hand in the plastic bag, and was about to pull the thing that was in there, out, when she said:

'But before I can tell you about Damian's whereabouts, there's something I must show you. If I don't, chances are you won't even believe me.'

* * *

**Two chappies for today~!**


	15. Time for Truth

**Directly continued from chapter fourteen!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

As I held out my Death Note to everyone around the table, I got those looks of: _good lord, is she still that much into it?_ I smiled shyly, and getsured to them to touch it. None of them did a thing but raise an eyebrow at me. Swallowing nervously, I lifted my face, though I still didn't meet any of their eyes. 'Don't ask,' I said quietly, my voice even softer than I had intended it to be. 'Just do it. Touch it.'

After a snort, a sigh and two of them grumbling something, they just did what I asked, though still reluctantly. five paris of fingers brushed against the black notebook at the same time, and only a second after that, five voices either gasped, made a startled "squeak" or plain screamed.

Ofcourse, they had seen Beyond, who was standing just a few steps behind me. Realising that everyone was watching him, he smiled shyly, obviously nervous, and said: 'H-hi! I'm Beyond Birthday, nice to m-meet all of you...heheheh...'

Not a word from the others, not a single sound. Just wide eyes and gaping mouths, as they saw someone, or in their eyes perhaps even some_thing_, that they thought didn't even exist. Yeah, what a shock, huh? Shinigami are real! I almost expected one of them to throw their arms in the air and scream, then fall of their chair exactly like L had done in the anime. Now that'd be funny.

Only problem is, this wouldn't be a "funny" evening. Not at all. No, it was time to get rid of those secrets I had kept for nine years, and not even one of them would remain hidden. Briefly, I glanced down, half expecting to see the small row of numbers in front of me, though I knew that I had no Shinigami Eyes in this world. _Yes, little one. I'll even tell them about you..._

'Iris?...' Lisha said quietly, after a moment of silence. I only looked at her. 'Is he... is he _really_ Beyond Birthday? _The_ Beyond Birthday?'

I smiled, her tone was so cute right now, I couldn't really explain it. Awe, shock, a bit of fear... and other things. Then I nodded. 'Yes, he's the real one, the one and only.' I looked at Beyond now, who still looked nervous. When he caught my gaze, his face became a little red, and he stammered: 'Well, I-I'm not really used to being stared at, you know...heheh.' Oh, geesh... he was so cute when he was like this! But that's. Beside. The point.

Yeah, I have better things to do now. Better things to tell!

'How's it even possible...?' Came my mother's stunned voice, nothing more than a whisper. Amy and dad didn't even try to speak, and Shayen stared at me with a gaze demanding answers. I had spent the whole evening trying to think of the right words to reveal the nine years worth of secrets, but even now, I thought they might not be enough to explain everything.

'He is the real Beyond... from the real Death Note universe...' My tongue lay heavy in my mouth, like a stone dragged it down, trying to unable me of speaking. But nothing would stop me, now that I had started. 'The world of Death Note, and perhaps of other stories as well, is actually another dimension, some alternative world.' I went on, my voice slowly growing steadier as words came to me eventually. 'I have been visiting that world in my dreams for nine years now.' I looked at Shayen, lisha and Amy. 'I know it's a very long time ago, but do you remember that one morning when I came downstairs, saying I had dreamed about Death Note?' After a moment of silence and concentration, they nodded. 'Well, that was my very first visit there. At that time, I thought it was really just a dream, but it kept on continuing, every time I fell asleep. Slowly, I realised it was real. And... you know my friend, Madeline? Well, she goes there, too. We've kept it a secret for all these years, but now... it seems it can't stay a secret for long.' I sighed before going on. Well, at least that was out. 'The reason that you dreamed about Death Note, Lisha, as well as the reason Damian has disappeared,' They all leaned in close now, not wanting to miss a single word. 'Is that the two worlds, their's and our's, are becoming the same. Some of the characters are already in this world. Remember Taro Kagami? Well, if you look him up on the internet, you'll find him, trust me. Manga and all. Also, Misa Amane, another character, has already been spotted right here in our hometown by Madeline. And then there's Beyond, ofcourse. He has been with me in this world for six years, though we've had a relationship for the full nine years. He died, you see, and after his death, he became a Shinigami.'

They were all still silent, gaping at me or Beyond, or even both, and mom shook her head, whispering: 'Why have you never told anyone?'

I know, maybe it isn't the right time for this, but her voice made me laugh now. 'You know, that's exactly what Damian asked me, when I saw him with L and the task force last night!'

They gasped, and dad exclaimed: 'My son is in a fictional world, working together with a freak-detective?!'

I nodded, losing my laughter instantly. 'Yes, he's trying to help them solve the Kira case. But when I was there last night... he's fine, absolutely alright, I swear. And he will come back, when the worlds become one.'

'And just how long will that take?!' Amy.

'Somewhere in mid-August, if L was right. And trust me, L is almost never wrong. The time in that world is beginning to flow in the same speed as in this one, and when the flow of time becomes the same, the worlds will collide, mix, become one.' I answered.

Mom had tears in her eyes, shaking her head slowly in disbelief. 'My god, Iris... Damian...' A sob broke from her lips, but she surpressed the ones that would follow. 'I-Iris, h-how's life in that world?' She asked. 'Will Damian be o-okay until August?'

I nodded, managing to smile again. 'Yes, he'll be fine. He told me he missed all of you, ofcourse, and he's worried about all of us, but he's fine himself. And honestly, I think he and L have become pretty good friends already.'

What a weird moment to let silence fall upon us again, but it happened. After this, no one spoke for minutes after minutes, all trying hard to comprehend what I told them. Then, after a little eternity, dad demanded: 'So, Iris... since we can see your..._ partner_, I believe you. But now... is there anything else you need to tell us?'

Yikes. That hit very damned close to home. Oh well, I was gonna tell them, anyway. 'Why, yes... the reason Beyond became a Shinigami after his death, is that he has always been part Shinigami. And... I'm part Shinigami as well.'

I expected protests, questions, whatever more. But it didn't come. Not even a single sound was uttered. So I decided to just continue. 'And eh...well... in that other world, I have done... bad things. Evil things, six years ago. There is this mass murderer, Kira, and then after I came there, there was this mysterious person who comitted two murders called "The Reaper"... and that was...me.'

'Iris...' That was all I heard, voices full of shock, disapointment, betrayal... exactly what I had heard all those years ago, but this time, they were my family's, and it stung only worse because of that.

'But I have payed for my crimes, I swear.' Before I could tell anything more, Amy half-asked, half-stated: 'I hope that's it?'

I shook my head slowly, and laughed so softly, I could barely hear it myself. 'No. But this is one thing that isn't bad...well, depends on how you look at it.' I looked up at my parents, then at Beyond and back again. 'Well, eh... congratulations, you two.' Their expressions changed imediately; ofcourse they understood what was coming next. 'You're gonna be grandparents sometime soon.'

Again, that awful silence, which was only broken when dad rolled his eyes, muttering 'Good lord, that too.' and my mother half-smiled and looked at Beyond. 'I... don't take it the wrong way, but is that even possible? D-didn't you say you were...dead, Beyond?'

He shrugged. 'We don't know how, either, it just... happened. It isn't really natural for us Shinigami, but... well, I'm still part human, so... I guess that's it.' Mom nodded, then looked at me. 'Are you sure that's the last thing you need to tell us?'

'Yes, I promise.'

It took us a while after all this, but somehow we managed to just gather on the couch together, watch tv and talk about different things. And that one thing, that they could just forgive, though not forget, and we went on together, made me extremely happy. Not one moment had I dared to dream that they'd accept it like this. I sat between my two parents, leaning on my mother's shoulder like I always did when I was a child. After some time, she asked softly; 'So, how far are you already?'

Oh, of course. The little one. 'Nine weeks. I think it'll be born end of October, perhaps the start of November.' She wrapped an arm around me. 'Any idea what it is yet?' I shook my head, smiling. 'No. But quite honestly, I don't even care. At first... at first I even wanted it to die, I didn't... I actually hoped it was just something like a nightmare, but now, in the last few days...' My smile grew a bit wider, and I laid my arm over my belly softly. 'I think I'm starting to love that little one, after all.'

Mom chuckeled. 'Yeah, of course. You may be a bit shocked at first, stressed or even very unhappy about it, there's no way you won't love your own children eventually.'

I nodded, closed my eyes and snuggled a little closer to her, exactly like I had always done when I was still a child.

Really, not a single moment had I thought they'd accept everything like this. But they did, thank Kami-sama. They did.

* * *

**And... she told them everything!**

**Quite honestly, I doubt they'd accept it all in real life, had this been real, but... oh well.**

**Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it, and the next update won't be long! (though not this weekend, gonna celebrate my brother's birthday, so I won't write as much, and also because of other... circumstances)**


	16. The train of thought

**Hi there again! At least this time, the wait wasn't as long, was it?**

**Nyeh, and I have two chapters again today!**

_**The train of thought sometimes leaves at the wrong time.**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

April went by. And so did May. Then followed June and now it's already the twentieth of July. I was at home now, discussing things with Madeline. Those "things", of course, were our speculations about the exact date of the colliding of these worlds.

'According to L-' I said, being cut off by Mads instantly.

'It's gonna be between August seventh, and twelfth. I know. You told me already, Iris, _thrice.'_ She sighed as she rolled her eyes. 'Please just come up with something new to tell me for a change.'

Oh yeah, I told her three times before. Forgot that little detail. I shook my head, laughing. 'Sorry. I don't know anything else than this.' I said. As an answer, Madeline proudly lifted her chin and closed her eyes, stating: 'Well, I _do_! Because besides working and the usuall stuff, I've actually done something useful, unlike you.'

I bit back a sharp retort at this. Yeah, I could've done a lot of other things, I know. But my work in the library was still keeping me busy -thank god I could stop for a while soon- then there was the work at home (whatever, Madeline had things like that to do, too. Not really great excuses, then) and besides that, I've been trying my best to work out a way to decide which "universe" I go to in my dreams myself, so I can visit Damian more often. And then there was the... being lazy. But hey, aren't I allowed to take it a little easier than usual? After all, being almost six months pregnant in the middle of a blazing hot summer wasn't exactly comfortable. I already felt like some sort of balloon, and then there's the heat as well... darnit.

Okay, that wasn't really important now, was it? No. So I just wen to sit closer to Madeline's side, looking over her shoulder at what she showed me with her cellphone. What was displayed on that little screen was... interesting.

'See?' She said, smiling proudly because of her achievement. 'There's gonna be an eclipse on the ninth of August, one that no one could predict until barely a week ago. And that is rather unusuall, isn't it? After all, people have already predicted an eclipse somewhere in 2090, haven't they? Then why was this one overlooked, and even better...' She scrolled down a bit. 'It's gonna be a complete eclipse, not just partially, like what happens more often.'

I read the article a bit more, then nodded. 'The date fits... the ninth. Plus, it's a sudden, exceptional thing... you might well be right, Mads. This might just be the one thing we've been looking for.' There's just a one thing I want to make sure, though... 'If I get to visit the right universe before that day, I'll ask Damian and L if this'll happen in their world as well, and on the same day, too. If it does... than this will be the day.'

'I know, right? It's definitely strange, and as you said, the date fits with what L said, so I think this is it.' That said, she smirked at me, her eyes gleaming mischievously. 'And I found this while being at home, surfing on the net in my spare time. Don't you think you could've done it as well, with your lazy ass?' She laughed, and I gave her a playfull, not too hard punch on the shoulder. 'Yeah, right. Really Mads, you should try this sometime, maybe then you'll understand me!'

'No, I'm happy that I can still wear my own clothes, thank you very much!'

...Oh, she could be so mean sometimes. It's not like I can do anything about it, that's just what happens! I mean, that child _does_ grow, and it _does_ need some space to do that. And that space is being created beyond my control, sorry. I wouldn't have been this round if I could help it, but like I said, I can't. Unfortunately. It was quite a nuisance.

Oh, whatever! More imprtant; the eclipse. Yup. The eclipse. On August ninth. Gotta find out if that will happen in the other worlds as well. As soon as possible.

...

Why is my mind on hold now? What great timing does it have, that mind of mine. Yeah, sure, turn yourself off at a time like this. Go ahead...

'Iris? Hey, are you still paying attention or what?' Madeline asked me. But I didn't even hear.

_What about naming it after some good friends in the Death Note world? Like... Naomi for a girl, for example._ Hell, I don't know _how_ I started thinking of this, I just did, alright?_ Nah... Misa, perhaps. Wait, do I want to name it after someone like Kira? Oh, hey... maybe I do. Oh, I know! Naomi Misa! Like, two names. I have two names, don't I? Iris Melissa. Yeah._ I was faintly aware of Madeline repeating her earlier words. But still, I just didn't seem to care. No, that's not true. Ofcourse I did care if she was trying to tell me something, especially since it might be important, but my head just didn't really cooperate.

'Hey, Strawberry!' Came Beyond's voice from somewhere above me. 'Oh, and Mads, too! Hi there!' I looked up, not really succeeding in focusing on what I saw. Oh... he was on the ceiling. Now wait... _in_ it. Damned Shinigami things, being able to walk trhough walls and fly, both at the same time if necessary. He was smiling like an idiot, but then his eyes grew wide, and he flew down, landing on the ground in front of me and Madeline. 'Hey hey, Iris! Don't go deciding names without me, that's not fair!' He laughed as he said this.

...wait, what? 'I didn't decide anything...just thinking...' I mumbled, somewhat of protest sounding through my voice. Oh please, can I finally be myself again now? Beyond laughed again, then sat down beside me. 'Well, then I guess he must've agreed with one of your ideas!'

'What d'you mean?'

'Right there, above that little long lifespan, are letters now.' He said, looking at it a bit longer. 'Well, okay, I don't mind. It's a nice name. Typical you, though.' Madeline sighed beside me. 'Sure, don't pay attention to me, Iris. But when Beyond comes here, you're suddenly back again? Weirdo.' She, too, chuckeled for a moment. 'Well, I'm curious, though. So what does it want to be called?'

Beyond answered before I could even open my mouth -not like I knew, though. 'Raito Ryuzaki Birthday. Now Iris, I would like to know why you thought of naming it after _Light_ and _L_, because that's just weird.'

'It has your last name...? Cool.' I mumbled.

Beyond sighed. 'You know what? I'm not even gonna try anymore. You don't listen, anyway.' He turned to Madeline, though mostly annoyed, he also seemed slightly amused. 'So what is it you've found?'

Madeline blinked at him. 'You didn't hear? Then where were you, I mean, you're _always_ with Iris!'

He shrugged, but before he could answer, I mumbled, half-laughing: 'Heh... little Raito... Gee, I'm gonna have a son called Raito...hee hee~!' To this, Beyond just sighed an muttered 'Shut up', while Madeline punched me on the shoulder, both at the same time. Well, I... really wasn't completely with it, now was I? Oh well...

'I had some bussiness in the Realm, that's all.' Beyond told Madeline. 'But what was you two were talking about before she went... err... whatever you call it.'

'On August ninth, there's gonna be an eclipse, one that no one could predict until a few days ago. My guess; that's the day it'll happen.'

'I see.' He smiled, relieved at finally having some answers. 'Nice job finding that, Mads.'

'Thanks!'

By now, I was humming a bit to myself, eyes closed, then said in a high-pitched voice: 'Arigatou, Madeline-chan~!'

Two sighs, two punches. 'Just shut up will ya?!'

...And now I wonder when this'll finally be over...

* * *

**...**

**Next chapter will have Madeline as the "main character" again, 'cause Iris just can't do anything right for now... and that'll only be annoying,**

**So thanks for reading~!**


	17. Childhood

**Chapter 17 is here~!**

**Now, I tried to make this one slightly funny, don't know if I succeeded or not. At least it's a long one, isn't it?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

Not for a moment did this look familiar. Yet, I knew this was Death Note, like it always was. But it didn't look like Japan at all. Also, it didn't look... _modern_ time. Just how many years in the past is this? And where is it? A large church-school-crossover building was in front of me, with a wall and fence around it. It just wasn't the entrance. _Perhaps I can find some more information there...?_ I thought, walking along the large wall, untill I came to a gate. And yes, there it was. How could I not have guessed it was this place? Looking at it now, it was painfully obvious. Wammy's House.

Which universe was I in this time?

A few children were playing outside, on the orphanage's huge terrain. Watari certainly made a good place for those kids, no doubt. Carefully, I tried to open the gate. Okay, maybe it wasn't such a good place, this gate wasn't even locked. Whatever, that only made it easy for me to get in. Maybe I could find Mello, or Near, and ask them if they know something about the comming eclipse. If they did, then my theory had been right, and that would mean the colliding of these worlds. Somewhere beside me, on the grass, two young boys were play-fighting. When they saw me they instantly stopped, and one of them, a boy with reddish-brown hair and an orange-tinted shirt, ran inside the orphanage. When he did this, his friend ran forward and halted in front of me, blocking my path. Pale skinned and with messy raven-black hair, he looked very familiar. And his scarlet eyes confirmed my guess. Beyond, but then a kid, looking no older than eight or nine.

'Who are you?' He demanded with a confident sounding voice, cold gaze and his chin held up a bit. Proud little kid, that's obvious. 'And what do you want? Outsiders aren't allowed here.' He was already flicking his eyes at a point above my head, where I knew my name and lifespan would be to him.

I had to fight back laughter at his tone. It was so strange, suddenly meeting Beyond, who has been a good friend for years, as a young kid. 'My name is Madeline.' I answered, though I knew he must've read it already. 'I'd like to speak with the person in charge here.' After I said that, he wrenched his scarlet gaze away from my lifespan and glared at me instead. 'You mean mr. Wammy?' Narrowing his eyes, he scanned my whole body twice, then huffed. 'Well, you don't look dangerous, that's for sure.' He stated, his tone suddenly sarcastic and mocking. _Why thank you, you little brat!_ I bit back this retort. There was nothing wrong with his words, but his tone was just absolutely insulting. Perhaps Beyond hadn't been so cute as a child, then. 'So I guess that's alright. Alt has gone to get him, anyway.' _Alt? Must be Alternative, A. So he was that other boy, then?_

He was right: only seconds later, Watari came out of the orphange, led by A and followed by another kid. One that I recognized in an instant, even though he was at least fourteen years younger than the youngest I had ever met him. L looked no older than eleven here. _Then this must be the year 1990, right? He's from 1979._ I may have recognized him immediately, he looked completely different from how I knew him. No bags, almost-straight back... okay, his clothes were still way too large, that was the same. And his hair was messy like a bird's nest, perhaps even worse than when he's an adult. Oh, and no shoes. But his face looked everything but emotionless, like it usually was.

A came to stand beside B, boucing up and down while pointing at me. 'That's her! That's the intruder!' Watari only laughed and patted him on the head. 'She's no intruder, Alternative.' L rolled his eyes and added: 'Yeah, stop overreacting for once, will ya?' Aw... L with child's voice... so cute. 'It's not even important, most likely.' B turned to look at him, smirked, then asked: 'Oh? If it's not important, then why did you even bother coming outside?'

L met his gaze for a second, then looked away. 'Was curious, that's all.'

'But you said she's unimportant, why would you be curious, huh?' A put in. L shuffled his feet over the ground, still refusing to look at the younger kids. 'I said _most likely_, which means it doesn't have to be true! And what if it was, hm? Then I'd want to know everything about it, ofcourse!'

A leaned to B, whispering: 'He was reading when I came in, and didn't look interested at all until I said the intruder was a _girl_.' B snickered, looking back at L, and saying a little louder, so the older boy could actually hear. 'Ooohh, L is only interested because she's _female_! What, are you getting into puberty already, L?'

The soon-to-be detective became as red as B's eyes. 'A-am not!' He protested, stammering. 'And so what if I was? Like that even matters!' But he only made worse for himself, saying that. A and B practically tackeled him, clinging to his arms, one each. 'We know you've been staring at K lately, moron!' A laughed, to which B added: 'Yeah! But I bet K isn't even interested in you!'

'Wha-? Get off me, you stupid toddlers!' L protested, trying to fight them off. But the boys were persistent, and refused to either let go _or_ shut up, let alone both. 'We're almost as old as you, idiot! You're no less a toddler than we are, if we even were one!'

Then Watari stepped in. Smiling and with the patience of a whole dozen of angles, he said calmly: 'Boys, it's okay for you to play, but please do that somewhere else for now, understood?' A and B pouted, their grip on L loosening for a few seconds, who took that chance to dash off, running to some other part of the large field. But his two attackers were already hard on his feet again. 'You can't ourun us, anyway!' A declared, to which L yelled back over his shoulder: 'Just leave me alone, you brats!' He sounded rather desperate...

'And what're you gonna do if we don't?' B demanded, laughing loudly. 'Take us from your list of successors?'

'I might just do that!'

I kept watching until the three boys were out of sight, biting my lips to hold back laughter. Poor little L... Then I turned to Watari, who was smiling just as much. 'What can I do for you, miss?' He asked politely.

Oh right! I almost forgot. 'Well... this might sound strange, but do you know anything about an upcomming eclipse? On the ninth of August?' I asked him. Surprised by this question, Watari blinked. 'N-no, I'm sorry. I know nothing of the sort. However-' He turned his head at the sound of L's voice, still yelling to A and B to leave him alone. There he came again, running around the corner of Wammy's House in the distance, still followed by the two boys. They had run a whole lap around the orpanage, it seems. '-Usually L looks into things like that, but I don't think he's available now...'

Just then, said boy tripped and fell flat on his stomache, instantly being jumped on by A and B, who looked as though they were trying to make sure he'd stay there, on the grass. 'Why you little-!' L exclaimed, fidgeting and trying to get rid of the two persistent little pests. The only answer he got was B jumping off him, grinning mischievously, while A sat down squarely on his back. The scarlet-eyed boy ran over to a young girl, who looked to be around L's age and was sitting close to the door, reading a book. 'K! K!' He called her, then broke off laughing. The girl looked up at him with a gaze that just screamed _get away from me_. 'What?'

Trying to control his laughter, B pointed at him and A's victim. 'It's L, he fell for you!' K just sighed and returned to her book, not paying any attention to him anymore. But B didn't seem to mind at all. He just bounced happilly to where L was still trying to get A off of him, leaned down until his face was at the same level as his, and said: 'Told you she wasn't interested! Hahahahaa!'

Just then, L managed to throw A from his back, get to his feet and within a second, B lay on his back on the grass with L sitting ontop of his chest, who had his hands around the younger boys throat. 'Just shut up!' He spat furiously.

Beside me, Watari sighed and shook his head slowly before walking over to the two boys. 'L,' Before the man could say even one more word, the oldest of the three looked up at him, black eyes blazing with anger. '_What?!_' Watari just raised an eyebrow at him, and the boy muttered something before saying: 'Sorry... I guess.'

'Good. Now, I would like it if you came with me-'

'_They started it!_' L protested. 'You saw it yourself, why would I get a punishment?!'

Watari sighed again, looking close to losing his patience after all. 'That's not what I was going to say.'

'Oh. Then what?'

'Our guest has a question for you. Now please, just come with me.'

L hesitated for a moment, looking from Watari to B and back again, then huffed. 'Fine then. But B,' He added, glaring at the boy as he let go of him. 'I'm not finished with you yet! And I'll get my revenge on you too, A! You just wait!'

Watari was already walking back to where I stood, and L followed more slowly, looking like a dark cloud, searching for a person to rain on. I hope that wouldn't be me...

'Whaddaya want?' He asked, not even bothering to look at me, which earned him a corrective poke from Watari. '...Sorry, mr. Wammy...' Then L did look up, first with the I'm-gonna-kill-someone look he had after the trouble with his successors, then putting on the most sarcastic and fake smile I had ever seen, and his voice was not much better. 'Welcome to Wammy's House for Gifted Children. I am L, your living encyclopedia. Ask a question, and I'll answer it, with only a three-point-seven percent chance of being wrong.'

_Annoying little-!_ I controlled myself enough as to not even reveal my frustration now with even the slightest twitch of my face. 'I heard some rumors about an eclipse soon, on the-'

'-ninth of August. Yeah, that's true. I found that out myself, a few days ago.' He cut me off. 'No one knew 'bout it yet, but oh well... the world is infested with idiots, so why would they know? I guess I told some kids here, and they must've spread the rumor further... but it's true.' He then folded his arms against his chest, looking at the door to the orphanage. 'Can I go now?'

I nodded. 'I don't have any more questions, but I guess that's up to mr. Wammy-'

He ran off and went back inside before I could even finish.

'-to decide. Well...' I said, turning to Watari again. 'You have some... interesting children in this orphanage.'

He shrugged. 'Genii are never easy to handle. Well, I hope this was an answer to your question, and I apologize for their behaviour. L isn't usually like this. A and B, however... well, they were themselves.'

I nodded again. 'Yes, thank you. And I'm sorry for bothering you for a small thing like this. I'll have to go now.'

And thus I left Wammy's House again. What a strange bunch of kids they were...

But at least I got my confirmation!

* * *

**Hooray, it's gonna be an eclipse!**

**...Now that's gonna be chapter 19, I guess. The next one will be my very first ...'s PoV! Yeah, you'll see who's it is soon enough. Or you can guess, whichever you want.**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!**


	18. Choice

**Sorry for the late update!**

**Well, I think I'll write more often again, so hopefully, there'll be more updates as well!**

**And... like I said in the last chapter, this is a new PoV!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Beyond's PoV~**

_This place has never known sunlight_. I thought as I walked over the cold, dead and bare ground under my feet. _Nor any warmth. This must be even worse than hell_. Not a single wind ever blowed here, yet there were clouds. Dark grey clouds, heavy with rain that would never fall. _I wish it would. _Perhaps that'd bring some life to this rotten place.

No, the Shinigami Realm wasn't a nice place to be, that's for sure._ Which is why I'm so glad I get to spend most of my time in the human world._

But now, my human world "life" has gotten me quite into trouble. And trouble with none other than the Shinigami King himself. Oh, and the other Shinigami jus wanted to join in as well. Whatever.

Yeah, they laughed at you when you worked "hard" -wrote down some names- but if you made mistakes like _this_...

...they simply threw skulls and other stuff at you, _then_ started laughing. Damned Shinigami, why am I one of them as well? Why couldn't I just be a human? So what if I'd be dead by now, like, really dead. Having to deal with brainless demons like these was worse than an eternity in hell, trust me.

And yes, I had been here for only a few minutes or so, heading for the King, when I got the first bone against the back of my head. I gritted my teeth, snarling for a moment, then turned around to see who it was this time. Oh, ofcourse. Dalil. She was one of the highest in rank in here, extremely intelligent, and absolutely _loathes_ everything human.

'Oi, Beyond!' She called, smirking. 'Finally back from that human y'got? Hah, ya can't leave her for longer than an hour, can you? Pathetic fool!' And there it was; the laughter, which was slightly accented when it came from Dalil's mouth. From the shadows of an overhanging rock, another Shinigami emerged. One that I was somewhat happy to see, for once. Zerhogie: perhaps the only Shinigami who didn't treat me like dirt, maily because he was actually interested in humans. Unfortunately, his rank wasn't very high compared to Dalil's, which meant that, even if he did win in an argument, his opinion would be worthless next to her's anyway.

'Now now, Dalil, don't be so harsh.' He tried to reason with the laughing Shingami, who already had a new bone ready to throw. The fur he wore was so white, it looked like it came from another world, didn't belong in this dark place. _Like me..._ 'Don't forget it hasn't even been a decade since he died. Ofcourse he still has some human behaviour, and memories of his human life, and-'

'-wishes to become a human again.' Came a third voice from somewhere further up the rocks. I recognized it immediately. Calikarcha, one of the lowest in rank, one of the most stupid demons to have ever existed, and most definitely the weirdest one, beaten only by Nu, who had a body full of eyes. He came flying down from where he had sat, landing beside me, his many pairs of eyes locked with mine. He was intimidating, but that was pretty much it. 'I'll tell ya somethin', Beyond,' He smirked, showing rows of fangs in his insect-like mouth (great Kami, his breath smelled horrible!), and whispered with a chuckle: 'You... are... crazy. Who'd want to be _human_? _Mortal_? And why would you _love_ a human, huh? It's love that has killed Gelus, and it was love that made Rem give her life... and there'll be a day when it's your turn if you keep going like this.'

'Oh, shut up, Cal!' Zerhogie said, rolling his eyes. Then he, too, walked over to me, red demon-eyes twinkling with curiosity. 'So, Beyond, any news from the human world? Anything... interesting?' I backed away slowly, spreading my wings as a sign I wanted to leave. 'Just... go.' I stammered, shaking my head briefly and looking away. 'I need to go see the King, and then I'll leave again, got it? And you can always watch the human world, if you're so interested, Zerhogie. As for you, Calikarcha, you're crazy yourself and I bet you'll turn into a pile of ash before I do, for whatever reason. And Dalil,' I added as I was already in the air, looking at the female Shinigami standing a few feet away. 'Those bones hurt.' And then I went off, flying as quickly as I could. I hoped my visit to the King wouldn't be as bad as this... but ofcourse, it would only be worse.

Calikarcha, Gook, Dalil, Nu, even Jastin... oh, how I wished they could just turn to ashes. But the King, he was far worse. And he was even more immortal than any of us were, no way he'd die and turn into ashes, or whatever it was we became after our death.

When I finally let my feet touch the ground again, the air was as cold as ice, making me shiver uncontrollably, even though I was getting more and more used to it as I came here more often. The main reason the King kinda scared me, was because the cold air in here was caused by nothing but his breath, which reeked of death and blood. And his eyes -I didn't even dare to look at them anymore. No wonder he wasn't shown in that manga novel Iris showed me once:_ Death Note; How to Read 13_. It said he was "too evil for human eyes". Well, that was an understatement.

'Beyond Birthday,' His deep voice echoed between the rocks. 'I have decided. Your punishment will be the following: you must either kill a Shinigami, kill that filth of a child of yours, or die yourself. Now, is that clear enough?'

My mind was instantly on hold. Kill my own kid? No...no, I couldn't possibly do that. And dying myself wasn't exactly something I wanted to do, either. But... how do you kill a Shinigami, without them loving someone?

It seemed like such an easy choice. Anyone'd choose to kill a Shinigami. But- 'Also, you have a time limit for your decision.' The King went on when I didn't respond, cutting off my thoughts. 'You have six months, human time, to decide. If you have not killed either that child or a Shinigami by then, you will die yourself. Understood?'

Okay, let's put that on top of it: a time limit. Now I had to find out _how_ to kill a Shinigami _and_ do so _within six months_. Seems easy, now doesn't it? Wrong. Very, very wrong.

Yet, I bowed my head in respect as I spread my bat-like wings once again. 'I understand, Kami-sama.' Yes, this really was the right way to adress him. After all, he was our King, our Father, our God. And our Devil. 'I will do as you wish, I promise.'

'Very well. You may return to your human now.' His deep voice came to me once more, and only silence followed.

As I was on my way back to my own world, for that is how I viewed the human realm, I couldn't stop thinking.

_Who will get out of this alive, and who won't?_

* * *

**And the next chapter... will be NINEteen, I guess that's a good hint, right?**

**Well, thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!**


	19. Ninth

**Hiya~! I gotz a long chappy again!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

This was the day, wasn't it? The ninth of August, this was it. The day of the eclipse, the day my brother'd be back, as well as all the other people who must've gone to that world, whoever they are, and the day that all the fictional characters would become real and join our world. Or would we go to theirs? Whatever would happen, it would be today.

I was with Madeline, and both our families were here as well.

Oh, and some of the characters that had already found their way into our world: Misa Amane, Sayu Yagami (the child version of her, which is really cute!) and... oh, I wasn't happy to say it... Ide... I hate Ide.

But today, the rest of the task force will come here, and he'll join them again, not bothering us anymore because we're the only people who know what's going on and why he suddenly went to a different dimension.

There was one problem now, though. With Beyond. He has been... acting strange lately, ever since that day when Madeline told me about this eclipse, and he had been gone for a little while. The Realm, he said. I can easily guess this has to do with the Shinigami King, and because of Raito, but he refuses to tell me anything about it. I'm... worried about him.

But right now, that isn't the most important thing going on. Oh no, the mixing of two worlds, that's the important one!

'Well, this is it, then.' Madeline said beside me, as we watched that huge, black circle slowly covering the light of the sun. I nodded.

'So I'll get tos see my mother again today? And dad, and nii-san?'

I sighed, turning around to look at Sayu, who sat on the grass behind me, close beside my mother. She had grown a bit too attached to her, if you ask me. But hey, she's a child, and children need a mother, preferably their own but sometimes, everything goes. 'Yes, Sayu-chan, I promise.' _Though I doubt they'll all come to this country._ 'If you're lucky, you might even meet the older version of yourself, you know?'

'Oh, cool!'

I rolled my eyes, then turned back to the eclipse. 'Yeah, but be quiet now, I've always wanted to see something like this.' Madeline chuckeled, and I expected Beyond to make some comment about that, too, but he remained silent, keeping the same trubled expression he's had for days now. _Just tell me what's wrong..._

Slowly, all the light was getting blocked by the moon, creating a very beautiful scene in the now dark sky.

But when the complete darkness finally came...

Beside me, Beyond let out a whimper, and when I looked at him, I saw he was practically curled up on the grass, teeth gritted and eye shut tight, as though he was in pain. Sayu had the same reaction, and somewhere further away, I heard Misa's voice, making a similar sound. 'W-what's wrong?!' Only a second after I said that, pain stabbed me in my head and chest, and my vision went black for a moment.

'Beyond? Iris? What's going on?' Madeline asked, sounding quite shocked. Ah, like me, then.

This... only happens to the people from that world, doesn't it? Beyond, Sayu, Misa... perhaps Ide, too. Then why me, as well?

...Shinigami. Am I not only part demon, but part fiction as well, then? Well, who knows, maybe I am...hahah...cool.

And that was when I completely blacked out.

* * *

When the dark, black fog lifted inside my head, I slowly blinked open my eyes to see my father and mother sitting on either side of me, looking worried. 'Hng?' It was actually my intention to ask "what happened?", but my tongue didn't cooperate. But it did catch my parents' attention. Where were the twins, and Amy and Madeline? Or were they here as well?

Both mom and dad smiled at me. 'Hey, you're back.' 'You've been out cold for quite a while, you know.'

I now noticed the sky was light blue -specked with the white of clouds, ofcourse- again, like always. So... the eclipse was over, then? What about it? Was everyone back, were the characters here, or... or did we go to their world?

I blinked again, and slowly pushed myself up. Okay, so I had fainted. What had happened? And where's Beyond? Slowly as to not get dizzy again, I looked around. Was Damian back, perhaps? Mom laughed softly. 'Don't worry, Iris, everyone's okay. Amy has gone to stay with Sayu, Madeline is with Misa -who woke up again little before you did- and the twins are with Beyond.' Her expression darkened, and she bit her lip. 'Well... when I said everyone's alright, I kinda lied a bit. Beyond... well, I have no idea what's wrong with him, but unlike you and the others, he doesn't respond to anything.' She looked genuinely worried, which made my heart almost stop. In the few months she had known him, she didn't seem to like him much -most likely because he's a demon, and she has some paranormal "gifts", which made her react strongly to "evil" and negative things, like...demons- and okay, except for Mads and my sisters, no one else particularly liked him much... but both my parents seemed worried about him. My god... it must be really bad...

'How bad is it?' I asked. Wow, my voice was more raspy than I had thought it would be. in fact, I hadn't thought it would be hoarse at all... just what happened, and why?

'Well, had he been alive instead of... you know... we might have considered taking him to a hospital more than once already. But Shinigami are immortal, right?' My father answered. 'I'm sure there's not much to worry about. But tell you what, a few minutes ago, I got a call from your brother,' _Damian _is_ back!_ 'He's still with L, and someone called Matsuda, and they're currently trying to figure out which country they're in, and then they'll all come here as soon as possible.' To this, my mother added: 'From his discription of the surroundings, I'd say it might well be Ireland. It sounded like home to me... so Ireland it is, I guess.' Yeah, mom had spent her teens in Ireland, though she had been born here in Holland, until she met my father and came back here. She often spoke of it as "home". How I usually described it: "Holland is where her house is, Ireland is where home is", something she completely agreed with.

Still dazed, I forced a smile to appear on my face. 'Damian... he's coming home again, after all those months...' I took a deep breath, blinked twice until my sight was sharper again, then asked: 'Well, besides Beyond, how are the others doing?'

'Misa is, as we said, already awake. She looked quite spooked, but aside from that, she's fine. Sayu looks just fine as well, almost as if she's really asleep.' Then my mother looked around, her gaze travelling over the large field where we still were. 'But... do you have any idea what happened, Iris? And it only happened to the Death Note people,' Wow, she didn't call them characters anymore. 'so why you, too?'

I shrugged. 'Well, I guess, since it is _their_ world that has collided with this one, it must've caused... something to happen. And why it happened to me, I have no idea. But I think... because I'm a-'

Dad cut me off, holding up a finger and face to the ground, eyes closed. 'I know, Iris. Don't say it, will you?' ...I was somewhat offended by this. So I'm not accepted for what I am completely? Why, thank you, maybe you shouldn't have had your daughter, then. It's not my fault what I became... 'But it does make sense. These creatures,' _Creatures?!_ 'are from that world, so you must be... half from that place as well, however strange it is.'

'Dad!' It came out of my mouth before I knew it, and sounded way angrier and more stunned than I had intended. 'I'm just me, alright? Shinigami are just the same as humans, or at least in this state! We're not _creatures_, please don't say that... it sounds so...' I trailed off, biting my lip -yes, I had that habit from my mother. 'Sorry. I... I'm sorry. But please, I'm still the same, I'm just..."labeled" differently from what you thought I was, that's all.' When I got no answer, from either of them, I added: 'Just think of it as... well, you know, Autism. When I got my ADD diagnosed, nothing changed, did it? Okay, I got some medication and a few more rules, but that only changed everything for the better. Now I got this "diagnosis" of being a Shinigami, but that doesn't change who I am. Please?'

I still got no answer, but they did nod. Agreement, good. I got to my feet, saying 'I'm gonna go see Beyond now.' And walked away. Thank goodness he wasn't far from where I had been, 'cause my legs were still quite wobly and unstable. Well, this had been the third, maybe forth time _ever_ that I had blacked out, so it wasn't surprising. As my parents had said, Lisha and Shayen sat beside Beyond, who lay flat on his back with his eyes still closed, and he was trembling slightly. What was going on? Was this even possible for Shinigami? Apparently so.

As I approached them, the twins looked up, looking even more worried than mom and dad had. 'Hey, Iris...'

'Hi, you two.' Was all I said before I sat down on my knees beside my partner. _Had he been alive, we might have considered taking him to a hospital more than once._ That seemed like an understatement now. 'Beyond... what's happening to you? And why?' I whispered as I carefully ran my fingers through his raven-black hair. I felt something twitch inside my belly. Raito. He was clearly not pleased. _You don't like seeing him like this either, huh?_ Then I repeated what my father had said to myself, as well as to little Raito. _Shinigami are immortal... he'll be okay._ Then again, had Ryuk not said, in the anime...

"_We Shinigami kill humans to lengthen our own lifespan. We kill them, then take the remaining life they had for ourselves. It's how we stay in existence._" Something like that. Bottom line was, that the reapers _have_ to kill in order to stay alive. And Beyond had never killed anyone yet. Was that part of the problem? It might have been there already, that... problem... and because _this_ happened as well now, maybe that's the reason he's so much worse off than any of the others. I quickly searched my pockets for a pen, and took out a little piece of my Death Note's pages I always had with me (I don't even know why I had it with me) and then placed the pen between Beyond's now rather weak fingers. Wait, he needed to have a person's face in mind... well, perhaps it might work. I leaned close to him, whispered the name of some unimportant character from Death Note -one of the people from that mafia- and moved his hand over the paper to write it as well. Yes, I knew that person's face, and so did he. I hope this would work.

'Iris? What're you doing?' Lisha asked, confused and curious. Then she took a look at what I had made Beyond write. 'A... name? Did you- did you kill someone?!'

'No, Beyond did. I just remembered... Shinigami need to kill people in order to stay alive, and in six years, Beyond hasn't taken a single life yet. I figured that might partially be the reason he's... like this.' Well, how could you call it? Not sick, obviously, 'cause that wasn't it at all.

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me. 'Iris?' It was Madeline. 'Turn around, and look who I've found!' I did as she told me, and my eyes almost leaped out of my head. 'Nessa!' I exclaimed, almost happily. Had the whole Beyond-issue not surpressed any real happiness now, I would most likely be bouncing around like an excited little kid. Well, maybe not. I don't want to torture Raito, ofcourse.

The young girl nodded, then swung her arms around my neck. 'I don't know how I'm here, but I'm glad it's with you and Mads and Beyond! I've missed all of you, Iris.' She said, and I hugged her back. I had missed the girl, too.

Well, now I could only hope Beyond would recover, Damian would come home soon, and maybe... if they weren't here, then I hoped for Nessa that Naomi and L would come here, as well.

But my god... however much this went completely _not_ like I had imagined, it really happened.

Our worlds... we were one now.

* * *

**And that's it for number nineteen! But I have chapter twenty ready, as well!**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!**


	20. King's Influence

**And here's chapter twenty!**

**Unfortunately, this one is short again. But I'm planning to make the next one longer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Beyond's PoV~**

I was aware of Iris sitting beside me now, talking to me on a soft tone. but I couldn't even move, not even a single twitch would come, no matter how hard I tried. What the hell was going on? Surely this hadn't happened to anyone else? Then why me?

I felt dizzy, nauseous, weak... everything I felt when I died, but only worse. I was wondering what was going on just as much as Iris was. Surely this wasn't supposed to even be possible for a Shinigami?

...Just like becoming a father was?

My god, am I not even a Shinigami or what? I'm most definitely not a human anymore either. Something in between didn't really seemed like a good explanation anymore, either. Then what am I?

No. No, I _am_ a Shinigami, why else would I be able to go to the Realm? But how can this, whatever it is, happen?

I was partially lifted off the ground, then laid back down on what I was pretty damn sure was Iris' lap. Okay, why can't I even move? Had I not been breathing, I'm sure she must've thought I was de-

-I _am_ dead. And I don't_ have _to breathe, I just do. Old habits die hard, you know? But at least I wasn't a pile of dust or whatever, like Shinigami become when they die. Well, that was reassuring. I wasn't gonna "die", for sure. Nah, impossible.

I felt Iris' hand slowly stroke me again, like she had done only a few moments ago. And heard some voices, but I couldn't really place them... I guess it was Madeline... and ofcourse, Lisha and Shayen, since they had been here for even longer than Iris had...and another.

Was it... Nessa? Vanessa Lawliet, a girl from the other world... was here? Then Madeline had been right, and this eclipse really was the one thing that opened some sort of portal between the two dimensions.

'So you have no idea what's wrong with him?' Nessa's voice came again.

'No. He hasn't reacted to anything yet... I wonder if he's even conscious.'

_I am!_ I wanted to say. _Damnit, Iris, I'm completely conscious! But my body just won't cooperate._ I tried to move again, or maybe make a sound. Anything that would show them I'm still here. Maybe I could try to open my eyes, even if it was only a little bit? I tried, but my eyelids felt even heavier than stone. Please, just let me do... _something_!

And finally, I managed to at least make a sound. It was nothing more than a barely audible groan (which hadn't been my intention at all), but it was better than nothing. I immediately felt Iris shift. 'Beyond? Are you-?' I then felt her hand move to mine, and her fingers clasp around it. 'If you can... if you can even hear me, please...' _Give a sign._ I added silently to her words, which she obviously hadn't even finished. It was cheesy, I know, and certainly something you only find in books and stupid soaps on tv, but it was also the easiest thing to try. So I tried to at least move my fingers a bit, which she would definitely notice now. And thank goodness, I actually managed.

'B-Beyond! You're back, thank Kami!'

'...N..' Please, tongue, just form some words instead of mere sounds, please. '...No...have been... conscious...for a wh-while...' _Thank you!_

Iris chuckeled a bit. 'Typical you, silently observing... You know, in Latin, the saying _taceo video_ would be perfect for you sometimes.'

_Taceo video. I'm silent, I watch. Has she not told me once, that she thought that saying fitted with Nessa too? _'Tried to... say something...couldn't.' Please do forgive my half sentences, I'm still in quite a daze, and my tongue feels like it's glued to my jaw, so it will hardly move. Dammit.

Well, that feeling of weakness was beginning to leave now, bit by bit. And I even managed to get myself to sit after a few moments, though I was still leaning against Iris' shoulder, and finally open my eyes a bit.

Iris smiled at me, relief shining in her eyes. 'How do you feel now?'

No point in lying, was there? 'Terrible... but better than a few moments ago.'

'I'm glad to hear that. You got me quite worried, you know?'

'I know...' ...? No, right? I can't-

Iris interrupted my thoughts when she said: 'Hey, you've probably noticed already, but... it's true. The worlds have mixed, Mads was right. Nessa is here already, and Damian, though in another country, is back as we-'

She broke off as I suddenly leaned to a side, away from her, and vomitted. Well, if there was anything to throw up, that is. I never eat, obviously. But my muscles seemed to try and convince me otherwise.

'Beyond? Wh-what's wrong?!'

When that was over, I flopped back down against her shoulder, breathing rather heavily. 'If I knew, I'd tell you...' _Though I have quite a good idea of what's going on here now..._ The Shinigami King did this, I'm sure. He's the only one who can do things like this to Shinigami, he can even kill them, no problem at all. _He must be doing this to show me how human I still am... how mortal._ Was this to make clear he could kill me at any moment? I guess so.

Wait, _mortal_? _That's it!_ I can try to kill a Shinigami who's still like me, still part human! That must be a lot easier than a full-fledged demon!

But isn't it also true that this happens only few times every few centuries... is there even another one? For a moment, my gaze flickered to Iris, before my body convulsed again. Hell no, she can't be the _only_ other one! There has to be another half-Shinigami!

But... what if she is? Then I'd still have to go for a real Shinigami... or my family.

* * *

**Poor Beyond, Shinigami aren't supposed to get sick...**

**Unless the King is being a bitch, that is.**

**Well, new update will be soon again! Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, even though I'm being mean to Beyond~! ...poor guy.**


	21. Trip Through Europe

**Hiya! New chapter again, and like I said, quite long as well~!**

**Oh, and to those who asked (or protested against it): No, I'm definitely not planning to kill B a second time, trust me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

***L's (The Fantasy version) PoV***

I have no idea what has happened, where I am or how I got here, but what I did know...

This is most definitely not home.

Only Naomi was here as well. We had been watching that sudden eclipse together with Nessa, but... but she was gone! And even worse, someone else had appeared in her place.

Aizawa. What the hell was Aizawa doing here? Oh yeah, and Naomi had only just regained consciousness. And this Aizawa... didn't seem to know me. Well, not really that is. He just gaped at me, eyes wide, and exclaimed: 'R-Ryuzaki?! Is that... really you?! But how- you're dead! You died a few days ago! Plus... you're way younger than that.'

_Shut up about my age, asshole. And it's twelve years ago that I died, got it?_ I kept silent, though. Ofcourse, this Aizawa must be from another dimension, like Iris and Madeline had told me about a few times. I was just about to answer, when Naomi practically tackeled me from behind. 'L! L, I can't find Nessa_ anywhere_!' She sounded frantic. 'Where can she be?!'

'Nessa?' Aizawa asked, confused. 'Who's Nessa? And who are you?'

Naomi only seemed to notice him now. 'Oh... Aizawa-san. It's me, Naomi Misora... you know who I am, right?'

'Naomi...Misora. That woman that comitted suicide. They never found your corpse... you're alive?' Aizawa didn't seem to comprehend anything right now.

I just ignored him, and told Naomi: 'He's not the Aizawa we know. Fomr another dimension.'

'What the hell are you two talking about?!' The police officer demanded. 'Answer my questions, damnit!'

I sighed, and began explaining. 'Look, it might be hard, but you better believe this. There are quite a few different dimensions, and we're not from the same as you. In fact, I think this place is neither our home, nor yours.' _Is this where Madeline and Iris come from, then? Were they right, and are our worlds one now?_ 'Yes, I am, indeed, L. And this really is Naomi Misora, but neither of us ever died. And Nessa... well, that's our daughter. But obviously, she's gone missing all of the sudden. All we have to do now, is find out where we are, find someone we know... and find our girl, for Kami's sake!' Yeah, I was just as stressed as Naomi now, only I knew how to control it better than her.

Aizawa stared at us for a moment -a long moment- then nodded suddenly, as if he just woke up from a deep sleep. 'Uh, right! I- I'll try calling the chief!'

Naomi sighed. 'Why didn't Nessa have _her_ cellphone with her just now?' My thoughts exactly. If she had a cellphone with her at this moment, we might as well have tried calling her. But that was impossible now...

Aizawa seemed to have more luck. He was speaking with Yagami-san now, asking where the chief was, if there was anyone else with him -they were. Mogi-san was there, if I heard right- and about meeting me and Naomi, and started explaining to Yagami-san what I had just told him.

Meanwhile, I was trying to find out where we were by observing our surroundings. It was a small village, and by the looks of it... somewhere in Europe? I guess so. Southern-Europe, most likely. But which country? It didn't take lopng for Aizawa to hang up, and he went to us.

'Chief Yagami said he was in France, judging on the language everyone spoke. They're heading to Paris now, where they'll wait for us.'

Wow, that's quick. 'Okay... then I guess we better find ourselves a train or a bus, and go there, too. Am I right?'

And that's how it went. Only one and a half days, five bus-stops and three long train rides later, we found ourselves in the midst of Paris, where we indeed met with the task force. I had tried to push the thought about her aside for the time being, but Naomi hadn't shut up a single second about finding Nessa yet.

The task force had no idea of what was going on exactly, on though I was still not sure either, it seemed like I knew ten times more than they did. So I decided to take my time and tell them, and they in turnn decided to discuss this in some cafe. Which made Naomi quite the opposite of pleased, and I couldn't help agreeing. Whatever trouble they were in, the two of us had much better things to worry about.

But I just went along with them and answered all of their questions. 'First of all, Ryuzaki,' Yagami-san asked. 'I would like to know how you're suddenly alive again, how you've become at least a decade older in a few days, and why Naomi Misora has miraculously come back to life, as well. The rest can come later.'

I sighed, annoyed. Whatever. 'Look, there are many different dimensions, alright? I'm not from the same world as you are. Oh, and the whole Kira-bussiness, and all of us, is just fiction in the world we're in right now. Some manga series created by two Japanese people, watched and read by people all around the world. If we're lucky, some people might just think we're cosplayers for now -though that wouldn't really fit with our age- and they won't get suspicious for a while yet. Because trust me, they will eventually. And in the world we come from, Naomi never died and I was kinda ressurrected, that's why we're still alive.'

They all gaped at me, except for Aizawa. He's had some time to get used to that idea already. I just shrugged. 'What? It's true, really. Oh, and I was right: Light Yagami is Kira. Just so you know.'

They were all silent, until Yagami-san sighed, and muttered: 'Okay... it really is you, L, I believe that now. You wouldn't go on about my son being a mass-murderer, otherwise.'

I smiled. Hah, it had worked. Then Mogi-san asked: 'So... what's going on? Why are we here, and not in our world?'

'Well, I have no idea why, just that is happened. I don't think this world will be much different from where you come from, or my world, for that matter. It's just... another one.'

All three men nodded, and took some time to register all this. It obviously wasn't easy for them. Wait -three? Where was Matsuda? And Ide, and Light?

They must've gotten seperated as well, then. Just like Nessa...

After a few minutes, Yagami-san asked: 'So, Ryuzaki... what are we gonna do now?'

All my frustration was unleashed at once at this, almost two days' worth of worrying. 'Look, I _don't care_ what _you're_ gonna do now, all I want to know is wether my daughter is safe or not, and _where the hell she is_!' Trust me, I don't even know why I reacted as fierce as I did, but... somehow, it felt good to just yell at someone right now. Naomi placed her hand on my shoulder carefully, and said: 'L, calm down a bit... I'm sure-'

'Don't tell _me_ to calm down, _you _were the one who was being all hyper and worried, remember?!' And I most certainly didn't intend to yell at Naomi like this, of all people. 'I have a god-damned good reason to be like this right now, and you know it! So just-' Just then, my cellphone rang. Annoyed and furious, I fiercely snatched it out of my pocket. 'Hell, what _now?!_' I answered the call and brought the phone to my ear, only to immediately scream: '_What the hell do you want?!_'

There was a startled gasp on the other side of the line, then a trembling voice: 'L-L?' I recognised it instantly. Madeline. 'What-? Oh, never mind.'

Ashamed, I forced my voice to go back to normal as I said: 'Oh, it's you... sorry for...you know. Just sorry. What is it?' Please don't let it be some nonsense, I have way better things to do!

'Well, I got some good news for you. I presume your outburst just now was because of frustration? Well, worry no more! Nessa is here with me, safe and well.'

Within a second, my heart had gone from a furious racing to a relieved and utterly happy fluttering. Had I not known better, I would've believed it could fly right out of my chest. 'Nessa? Sh-she's with you? Thank goodness!' Behind me, I heard some sort of squeal from Naomi. 'Just one thing... where are you?'

Madeline laughed. 'At home, ofcourse! In Holland. And besides Nessa being here, we have quite some surprises for you and Naomi. Hey, where are you right now?'

_Holland, huh?_ 'I'm in Paris, with Naomi and some of the task force. They all went to France, while Naomi, Aizawa and I got sent to Italy.'

'Paris? Well, if you take the right train, you'll be here before night falls!' _Today already!_ Then Mads went on: 'You'll have to go to a city called Zwolle. We'll be at the station to pick you up. Oh, and maybe you could take the task force with you. Any idea what world they're from?'

I shrugged, and looked over my shoulder at the three men and Naomi, who were all staring at me. Ofcourse, Madeline and I were speaking Dutch, they had no idea what I was saying. 'Well... a world in which I just died, a few days ago. Only Yagami-san, Mogi-san and Aizawa-san are here, though. I don't have a clue about where Matsuda and Light could be, or Ide for that matter.'

Madeline was silent for a moment, then said: 'Well, we'll find them sometime. For now, just remember: Take a train to Holland -I think Rotterdam would be a good place to start- then go to Zwolle. I'll be there with Nessa, and maybe Iris, too. That depends on Beyond.'

What did she mean? 'Beyond? Why's that?'

'Well...' The lack of happiness in her voice was a rather sudden change from just now. 'He's... I don't know, actually. It seems like he's ill -rather seriously at that- but getting sick isn't supposed to be possible for a Shinigami. But ever since the eclipse... one moment it looks like he's recovering, the next it just gets two times worse again. Iris isn't gonna leave him, ofcourse, so it depends. If he's fit to go anywhere, he and Iris will definitely come, if not... well, then they won't.'

...Well, that was... unexpected. But I had never been particularly close to Beyond, had I? So why did this suddenly spark new, fresh worry? No, don't even consider wasting your time on that, you have to go to Holland now, get your daughter back... Rotterdam, then Zwolle. Got it. 'Well, whatever it is, I hope he recovers soon.' I simply said. 'And Madeline? You're an angel, you know that? A real life-saver.'

She laughed again. 'Oh? Why's that?'

'Well...' I said slowly, glancing over my shoulder at the task force again. 'Quite honestly... I think I would've strangled Yagami-san, or anyone else, if they said even one more word!'

She burst out laughing, paused for a second to say 'bye', then hung up, laughing _again_. Hey, it hadn't been a joke for once, I was serious! Whatever.

I just turned back to the others, my now-good mood clearly showing on my face, and Naomi jumped at me in a tackle/hug-thingy. 'You said Nessa!' She exclaimed, speaking so fast I hardly heard what she said. 'You said Nessa! Was that Nessa? What about her? Is he okay, where is she?!' I chuckeled, and put my arms around her comfortingly. 'Yeah, she's okay. She's with Madeline right now.'

'Madeline?'

Just a nod, before I looked at Mogi, Aizawa and Yagami. 'Well, it seems like we all have a destination now.'

* * *

**And that's it for today.**

**Hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	22. That Grumpy Guy

**Behold, my attempt at writing humor!**

**Which kinda... I don't know. Maybe it failed, maybe it didn't, I don't particularly care much, actually.**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

***L's PoV***

The train ride was painfully long. Five hours of sitting in a damned train, surrounded by strangers who all spoke a different language -not that I didn't speak every single one of them as well, ofcourse- watching the landscape change through a ridiculously filthy window. Oh, and the complaining and what not from the task force was getting on my nerves, as well.

_Just put up with it, L_, I told myself. _After all, this is all for a good reason. No, the best reason there is! Just a little while, and you'll have your daughter back. So just. Put up. With it._

Ofcourse, when we finally arrived in Rotterdam, I was almost bouncing in joy (_almost_, got it? I'd never do that!). Madeline had been right, it was only half past eight, and we were already here!

...Now it's time to go to Zwolle.

'So... this is it?' Yagami-san asked, looking around curiously. 'This is where we're supposed to be picked up by some weirdo?' Heh. He actually remembered that small detail of my discription of Mads. Good job, Yagami-san!

But I sighed. 'No, unfortunately. Now we're supposed to take a train to a city called Zwolle. Oh joy, another train ride. You know, I really hate trains. Too busy, too filthy, too-'

'Too _public?_' Aizawa tried.

'Exactly! Way too public, those filthy things. If it isn't some arrogant teenager barking all sorts of interesting words at you, or an ugly baby barking it's breakfast on your shoulder, it's some old dude yelling at you for taking his seat when he went to the toilet, while his seat is actually_ behind_ yours! Really, I'll never get people who take a train every day!'

Mogi-san blinked at me in surprise, and asked: 'No offense, Ryuzaki... but have you always been like this, in your world?'

'Well, no.' I admitted, rolling my eyes as I was trying to find out which train we had to take next, 'cause there was like, a dozen of them in here. No, make that three dozens. 'Actually, I was pretty much like the Ryuzaki you knew, before I died. But death tends to change people, y'know? By the way, it's L now. I hate that damned alias... brings back bad memories, and not just from the Kira case.' I shuddered. No, I had never forgotten the LABB case, or the other things Beyond once did to me... how did I ever forgive him for almost slitting my throat? I'll never know... 'Anyway, let's just take this one over here, that goes to Zwolle, if I'm right. If I'm not, then-'

'Why don't you just _ask_ someone, Bright-Light?' Aizawa interrupted me. 'Really, I think the other you was a bit smarter...'

'Oh, shut up! _You _don't even speak Dutch!'

'No, but _I_ came with this idea! Now hurry up a bit, before we're too late to catch the right train!'

I rolled my eyes, and turned around, walking to the first person I saw, muttering just loud enough for Aizawa to hear: 'Really, sometimes I miss the time _I_ gave the orders.' Then I turned to the elderly man standing in front of me, and politely asked: 'Excuseer me, maar kunt u me vertellen welke trein naar Zwolle gaat?' (Excuse me, but can you tell me which train goes to Zwolle?)

The man turned around now, looking confused. 'Sorry, my Dutch isn't that good. What is it you want to kno-' He broke off, and I knew he recognized me too. My god, maybe this world _is_ different from mine. You just stumble upon the most unexpected people in here, don't you? Then again, maybe that was true in my world, too, if only you went to public places more than I did.

'R-Roger?!' I exclaimed. 'What the hell?'

He blinked, stunned and somewhat startled. 'Ba-Backup? Is that _you_?'

Backup? 'No, damnit! It's me, L!'

Roger looked at me for a few seconds, inspecting me intently with his grey eyes. 'Well, now that mention it... yes, you're not Backup at all. Forgive me for confusing wou with him again, L.'

Exactly. _Again_. How often had the old man not done that already? Too often, if you ask me. 'Why the hell did you even think I was B?' I couldn't help asking.

He blinked again, cleared his throat and said: 'Well, for one, you're supposed to be in Australia, working on some case there. And secondly, your... choice of words isn't like you at all.'

Australia? Oh, right. That case. I was sixteen on that one, wasn't I? Yeah, almost got bitten by some snake, as well. Why is it that you always remember such unimportant details? Whatever. 'Well, sorry for expanding my vocabulary a bit.' I answered sarcastically. 'Anyway, I don't really look sixteen anymore either, now do I?'

Roger chuckeled for a moment: a rarity for the always-cranky old man. 'No, you don't. What are you, forty? Forty-three?'

I gritted my teeth, muttering softly: '_Thirty-seven_, thank you very much.' At least I remembered why I hadn't missed him for even a single second yet, after this small conversation. 'Anyway, what I was asking: do you maybe know which train heads to Zwolle?'

He thought for a moment. 'Well, actually, I do. 12C, I think. Why do you need to go there? A case?'

'You can call it that, I guess. No, as you may have noticed, this is not our own world. And upon coming here, I kinda got seperated from some others. One of them being my daughter Nessa, who's apparently in that city.' Well, the only one, actually.

Roger gasped, then coughed, looking as if he'd choke. I hope he wou- No I don't. _Yes, you do_. No I don't, I'm not _that_ bad. _Whatever_. 'Th-thirty-seven and a d-daughter?! My god, how much stranger can this place get?!'

Losing my calm on the outside as well as the inside by now, I swiftly turned around and walked back to the others. 'Just shut up, will ya? Thanks for telling me which train I should get, I hope you get run over by it. Goodbye!'

As an answer, I heard his footsteps -which were surprisingly fast, considering his age- following me and getting closer. 'L! Wait! I- I'll come with you!'

I was already with the task force and Naomi again when he said that. Eyes wide, I spun around and faced him. 'Hell no you're not!'

'Why wouldn't I?'

'Because I say so, that's why!'

'Oh, for god's sake, L! I almost raised you, can't you even let me go with you on _one_ simple, short journey?' He protested.

'You didn't-! That was _Watari_, you moron! And no, I absolutely can't!'

'I helped, alright? And give me one good reason why you _"absolutely can't!"_ take me with you.'

I threw my arms in the air, in a gesture of _"isn't that obvious?!"_, and yelled: 'Because _you'll_ be the grumpy old guy who thinks I've taken his seat, while I certainly _didn't_, got it?!'

And that's how it happened: we got a new addition to our little traveling-club. Roger sat opposite of me, smirking. Every time I muttered something about it, he just said: 'Well, I said a _good_ reason, didn't I? Now give me my seat back.'

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**L's mean, isn'the?**

**Well, I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	23. Promise

**And here it is: Chapter 23~!**

**Oh, and I feel like advertising here. There is this _awesome_ fanfic on here, _Beyond the veil of death_ by Draconaros. It's his first on here, but absolutely stunning! You just have to read it (if you haven't already), trust me! (By the way, _Ressurrection_ by JudasFM and _Life is Beautiful_ by Blackhooded01 are also two of my favorites...) Okay, and that's it for advertising today :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

I hung up the phone, and turned to Beyond, who half-sat, half-lay on the couch. He had developed quite a fever today, and every so often, he would just be completely vacant, unaware of anything going on. 'That was Mads. She called L today, telling him about Nessa being with her.' I said. 'He's in France right now, together with Naomi, Mogi, Aizawa and Soichiro. But they're coming here as soon as possible. Tonight, Mads and Nessa will go to Zwolle and pick them up at the train station there.'

A small smile twitched onto his face. 'Good. I was already getting worried about them. And with them, I mean the people who are with L and Naomi right now. Great Kami, I think that if Nessa ever "disappears" again, I wouldn't even want to be fifty miles away from them.' Then he laughed, which turned into a bout of coughing within seconds. 'They're like mad pitbulls when it comes to that girl's safety. They'll tear out someone's throat if it is to help her in any way, trust me.' He finished.

I laughed for a moment, then said smiling: 'I guess you're right about that. Remember that one time, years ago, when Mello threatened her? L looked almost insane at that moment, but he was quite the bodyguard for that kid!' My smile faded the moment Beyond coughed again, so hoarse I almost felt my own throat hurt, then gagged. His condition only seemed to have worsened since the eclipse yesterday. Well, at least he was conscious. 'Oh Beyond... what's going on with you?'

He shivered for a moment, almost gagged again, but managed to stop himself by pressing his hand to his lips. 'I already said: If I knew, I'd tell you. But I don't.'

I shook my head. No way I was gonna take that lie again! 'No, Beyond, you _do_ know. You just won't tell me, that's all! And it's not just now: there's been something off about you for days, if not weeks, long before the eclipse already! Please, just tell me what's wrong.'

He shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he did. 'Forget it!' Then quickly stood up. A little too quickly. The moment he got to his feet, his knees gave way, and he only just managed to grab the side of the couch to stop himself from really falling. I instantly got up, and crouched down beside him to help him on to the couch again. 'Please, Beyond! You can't keep going like this, and you know it! Just tell me what's wrong, maybe I can help!' I pleaded as I sat down beside him again. 'Please...'

Beyond didn't even look up at me. Instead, he just kept his gaze focused on the ground -if it was focused on anything, that is, which I doubted. 'You can't.' He said, his voice suddenly rasping and so quiet, I had to lean closer to him to hear it. 'You can't help me with this, Iris. I don't even want you two: You have enough to worry about already.' Now he did look up, again with that strange smile on his face. A smile which seemed to say so much more than he was letting me know: _No, I'm not telling you everything. Yes, I'm lying to you. But no, I can't do anything else right now, you'll see. You'll see... it's true. But please forgive me for it..._ 'Too much worrying isn't good for you, Iris.' Then he placed his hand on my belly, or, as we tend to call it sometimes, "Raito's temporary home". But hesitatingly, almost reluctantly, so unlike what he usually did. 'Not for you, and especially not for Raito. Just forget about it, alright? I'll deal with this myself.'

'_Asshole_!' I yelled, and without thinking, I even slapped him. 'You _son of a bitch_! Shut the hell up, will you?! Ofcourse I'm worried about you, ofcourse I won't let you _"deal with it yourself_", you _can't!_ Who knows, maybe it's deadly, maybe you'll die, and what then? Then I'm left without you, for a _second_ time and _permanently_, and Raito won't even get to know his dad! And now you're gonna throw that damned pride of yours, or whatever it is, aside, and you'll let me help you, _got it_?!'

He was staring at me, shocked, stunned, almost scared, but still shook his head. 'N-no, I really can't tell you, Iris!' He was trembling again, and for once, I hoped with all my heart that it was because of the fever, and not what I just did. God, how I wanted to strangle myself now. 'Please, just... just accept it for what it is! I won't tell you, even_ if _I could! And you won't make me change my mind about that, I've already decided a while ago!' Another bout of coughing before he finished, sounding a lot more vulnerable, breakable, almost _desperate._ 'Please... you've had enough on your mind lately... I can handle this on my own, I swear...'

I decided to not even bother answering to that. The idiot, did he really believe I'd simply stand aside and do nothing, watching him suffer like this? Never. But I also knew he'd never stop protesting, not unless he was practically on his deathbed for a second time, and even then he might not accept any help. And with good intentions: yes, I've had a lot to worry about lately, and stress is a real killer, especially to babies... but knowing he was in pain and sick and whatever more, but not knowing why or how, wasn't exactly helping at all.

After a while, I just sighed: 'You know... I whish I could go with Mads and Nessa tonight.'

'Then go.' Beyond answered, still not looking at me.

I clenched my hands into fists, but managed to keep my voice calm. 'No, I'm not leaving you here. And don't think you could come with me, if I went, because that would be the most naive thing _ever_.'

'Fine. If you're not willing to leave me on my own _here_ for a little while, then I'll just go to the Realm for as long as you're away.' Oh, he could be so stubborn! When I looked at him, silent but my expression clearly saying _have you gone crazy?_, he just smiled and leaned forward to kiss me. 'I'll be fine, I promise. The Realm is a boring place, nothing ever happens. Maybe I'll join some other Shinigami and get some sleep, how about that? I'll be fine, so don't worry. You just go and see L and Naomi, okay?' His voice didn't betray anything, but he had never been good at hiding emotions from me. No, I could immediately see he was lying: even if he _was_ planning to go to the Shinigami Realm while I was away, he was certainly not gonna allow himself to rest and maybe recover a bit.

But I didn't protest anymore. I knew it was hopeless, and I really did want to see L and Naomi again -I hadn't seen them in months. I just hoped he wouldn't get himself in trouble there, for whatever reason. 'Alright... seems like there's no point in arguing with you, is there?'

'Not in the least.'

'Fine then. Okay, I'll go with Nessa and Mads, and you go to the Realm. But promise me -_promise me_- that when I get back, you'll be okay.' I decided. He just kissed me again, and with shaking hands, held my face in front of his.

'I promise.'

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**... he's so stubborn, that idiot...**

**Well, I hope you liked it (sorry to B fans, I will eventually stop torturing him, I promise), and thanks for reading!**


	24. LMN ---and the others

**And here I am again, with a new chapter~!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

And thus, Madeline, Nessa and I were waiting at the train station, later that night.

'You know, I was convinced you wouldn't come if Beyond was still this sick.' Madeline said, and Nessa nodded in agreement. 'You surprise me, you know that?'

Usually, I would've laughed because of her tone, but unfortunately, there was nothing to laugh about now. 'Yes, I know. Though I'm more than happy to be here, I still feel like I should be home, making sure he's okay. Making sure he's even _there_, instead of in the Shinigami Realm.' I spat the words _Shinigami Realm_, more than saying them. Oh, how I loathed that place. Everytime I thought about it, it made my skin crawl now. Whatever happened there? I mean, wasn't it true that Beyond started acting weird after being there one day? Yes, right? I wonder what he was doing there now. I mean, did he finally keep a promise for once, and really try to get some sleep? I highly doubt it. Knowing him, he'll just be... actually, I have no idea. Only that it was bad, if not disastrous, because of his current condition.

I put those thoughts aside. _He promised, he'll be okay._ After all, I hadn't come here just to worry a bit more. I could as well have stayed home if I'm not gonna do anything else.

'Well, I wonder how late they'll be here.' I said, checking various signs displaying times of arrival of several trains. It was already quarter past nine now. Surely they couldn't be long? To this, Nessa gave a little bounce, pointing to one of the signs. 'Look! Look, that one say's it's coming from Rotterdam, right? Right? Well, then they'll be here in less then ten minutes!' Oh, she was right. But good lord, couldn't they come a little faster? Like I said, I hadn't seen them in months, and also, the young girl seemed like she would explode if her parents didn't come soon. But before the minute was over, she looked a lot less confident and happy already.

'...Have they even taken the right train?...'

I laughed. 'Oh, don't worry, they have. After all, for all I know, L's leading the group!'

She nodded and bit her lip, whispering: 'Exactly... that's why I'm worried.'

Oh... well, she might be right, actually. No, wait. There's Naomi as well, she's a lot better with... but she doesn't know Dutch, and neither do the others. Okay, they're screwed. To speak in L-language: the chance of them being on the right train is thirty-two percent.

Madeline only smiled, though she looked a little uncertain, too. 'Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine. After all, I think I gave clear instructions. Rotterdam then Zwolle. Easy, right?'

I blinked at her. 'No, really? That's all you told him?' She nodded, faking pride at her "achievement". Okay, let's reduce that to... twenty-three per- no, make it eighteen. That's more likely, now isn't it?

But then, after only eight minutes, a train arrived accompanied by a loud yelling: 'Roger, just shut up! I only agreed on taking you with us _here_, you're not gonna follow us around any longer, got it?!' Yup, that was L. No doubt. Nessa immediately realized that as well, and dashed off. 'Dad, it's you!' And then... tackeled him. So hard, that in the middle of the massive crowd of people, he just fell down on his back, Nessa ontop of him, hugging him as if it had been two years since they last saw eachother, instead of two days. Amused, Madeline and I followed more slowly.

Nessa was saying things so quickly, it seemed like she wasn't even breathing in between words. L, though faking an annoyed expression, seemed just as overjoyed at seeing her again, but kept silent from his spot on the floor.

'Dad, it really is you! What took you so long? What country did you go to? Was it nice there? How was the train ride? Was it long? Who's that older person with you?' Nessa just kept on talking, until L covered her mouth with his hand. In fact, even then she continued on talking, but only muffled. It took her a good five seconds to realize it, then she finally shut up.

'Take a break, alright?' L said, maybe really annoyed by now. 'Just breathe, then continue -slowly! Please do keep it understandable, okay?' Nessa only stared at him, wide eyed and still as hyper as just now. So he repeated '_Okay_?' Now she nodded, and with a sigh, he moved his hand away. Instantly, she inhaled sharply, big smile on her face, as if she was gonna ask all those questions again and more. But instead, the only thing that came out was: 'I missed you!'

Relieved, L sighed. 'Good lord, was that so hard?' Then chuckeled. 'Well, I missed you as well, Ness. You got me worried, disappearing like that!'

I highly doubt the girl even heard the last bit of it, for she had jumped off of him and tackeled Naomi instead, repeating the progress, but this time with her mother. But Naomi, now prepared for it, actually managed to stay on her feet, unlike L had.

Meanwhile, the ex-detective got to his feet again, and flicked some of the dust from his shirt, muttering: 'Hell, didn't I tell you guys earlier? These places are filthy, no exceptions.'

Madeline sighed, and sounding rather offended, said: 'Yes, hello to you too, L! It is very nice to see you again, indeed! Oh? Yeah, I missed you as well. Oh, no need to thank me for bringing Nessa here!' Sarcastic as hell, ofcourse.

L only glanced at her, blinked and said 'Oh... hi, Mads...' then turned away again.

'What the hell?!' Okay, I think my friend just had some internal explosion of rage. '_That's it?!_ "Hi Mads"?! You frickin' son of a bitch! You know, next time that I find Nessa somewhere, on the other side of the continent from where you are, I won't even _consider_ telling you anymore! How 'bout that, huh?'

Naomi just laughed at this. 'Oh, don't take it wrong, Madeline! He... hates public places like this, and having been in a train for almost six hours... Just think of it as something like a jetlag, alright?'

Madeline only huffed, and muttered 'If you say so...'

Meanwhile, I turned to the task force and introduced myself. 'Hi, I'm Iris, a friend of L and Naomi. I assume L has already told you where you are, or at least tried to explain it?' They nodded. 'Good, then I think I won't have to tell you, that there's no need of introducing yourselfs, right?' When he opened his mouth to say something, I added: 'No, I even know you, Roger Ruvie. Really.' The elderly man blinked once, surprised, then nodded. I just smiled, and told them to come with me and Mads to somewhere less crowded.

'Well, I guess the next step would be, finding a place where you can all stay. There is a hotel in our hometown, which isn't that bad at all. So if you go there, well... we still have to find your families, and other colleagues... then we can make my place, or Madeline's, our "HQ" in the investigation.' Hey, wait a minute... hadn't thought about that one yet! 'Oh, and Yagami-san? I have no idea where Sachiko-san and Light-kun are, but Sayu-chan temporarily stayed with my mother. I guess that, once you have a room somewhere, she can join you? After all, she's your daughter.' Soichiro's face instantly lit up at this. 'S-Sayu? Thank you, Iris!'

I shrugged. 'No, thank my mom. She's been taking care of her all this time.'

We discussed all this a bit more, with the decision that they would indeed go to that hotel for now, and then we left again, somewhere around ten o'clock. Sayu would stay with my mother until tomorrow, I had already discussed that with her as well, then she'd go to her father. L, Naomi and Nessa rented something as well, though they have already noted how everyone would eventually have to find a permanent place, now that they're world was the same as ours. Oh, and Damian would come home tomorrow, as well as Matsuda and the other L.

...Wait... _two_ Ls?! Amazing, that such a thing is even po-

Several Lights, which means several Kiras. Oh no, oh hell no...

I shook my head, pushing that thought aside for now. Who knows, maybe Kira won't be that much a threat in this world?

It was already close to eleven p.m. when I came home. Tired, I just went inside, to the living room-

-and froze.

'B-Beyond!'

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**I'm gonna be mean now... the next chapter will _not_ be continued from here! No, somewhere else, new PoV... muahahaa, I'm being so mean :P**

**Well actually, I'm not. Whatever.**

**I just hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	25. Love ---Interesting

**Oh hey, is that a longer-than-usual chapter? Yes, it is!**

**Though only by two or three hundred words... *sigh***

**Anyway, this chapter will explain the, let's say, "cliffhanger" in the last one. A bit. Though it's not continued from there.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

***Rem's PoV***

I will admit, every time I come back here, it's a surprise. Because unlike any of the others, I do remember I've died, just not how.

Yes, when a Shinigami dies, they come back after some time, only to live the whole thing again and die in the same way as the last time. None of the other Shinigami know they were gone after that, but I can still remember the weakness in my limbs as they crumbled and turned to dust. But how and why did I die? That's the one thing I keep on forgetting. But thruth be told, I don't even mind. Because I know I must've given my life willingly, and I would do it all over again when I had to. I'm even proud to have done it, for whatever reason.

But something told me fate had chosen a new path, the story had changed. But what road would I follow now, and if I died again, would I still come back? Or has that cycle been broken? Many of those thoughts plagued my mind as I sat in the shadows of the Shinigami Realm. Many thoughts, cold thoughts... and that cold was only worse now that I felt it on the outside as well. Had there been water in this part of the Realm -for there was water in here, but rarely would you find a pool- there would've been ice. Thank the Shinigami King for that. This was no one's favorite place to be, Nu not counted. No, Nu was a weird type. Body full of eyes, she couldn't feel cold or warmth, and the King's prescense was the one thing she desired, aside from the usual stuff for us reapers. Like death, suffering, pain... the few things I loathed, let's keep it at that. Then again, was I not a weird type myself? I was a demon, yet loathed death and suffering and causing others pain. No, the things I liked to see was love. I hoped to be able to one day even feel it. Had I not done so once, actually? Because I had not only memories of dying, but also this strange feeling... but I could not make out wether it was a real memory, or just what I imagine love would be like.

Whatever it is, it doesn't matter much to me. So long as I would one day get the chance to really experience it. Humans always seem so happy when they're with the person they love... Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to _love_ love someone, just a close friendship would be enough, if the former is impossible. But I just want _something_.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard something. It genuinely surprised me, hearing someone in here. It was so close to the King, no one usually came here. That was the one reason I decided to sit and think _here_: the only place you could really be alone, far away from everyone and still not in the King's shadow. No, he wasn't _that_ close, thank... whatever.

Curious, I got to my feet and looked around. Who would even think of coming here? Unless they had the same reason as I had, that is. But beside me and Armonia Jastin, there aren't much Shingami who enjoy the thinking process, however intelligent some of them may be. When I didn't see this demon yet, I just listened better. Unstable footsteps, as though they were stumbling rather than walking, and their breathing -they breathed, which was strange- was also irregular and rasping. Very unusual, but I think I knew who this was by now. Everyone in this hellish Realm knew who to expect at hearing this.

'Beyond Birthday?' I called softly, getting only a muffled grunt in response. And the sound of him slamming into the ground, panting. By all names ever to have been written, he sounded really bad. Just what did the King do to him? I, for one, didn't think he should have been punished at all. No, why can't he be the first Shinigami ever to start a new age for us demons? One in which we could finally be _more_ than just bringers of death and despair? 'Beyond?' I called again, hesitatingly. Why would I hesitate, I asked myself. He needs help, that much is obvious. And there he was, just around some large, black boulder, crouched on the ground, struggling to get to his feet again. What was he even doing here? He should be in the Human Realm, with his human -Iris, I think- and resting. Maybe he would even recover if he got some rest, who knows? I put that aside for now, walked to his side and helped him up.

'Th-thanks, Re-em,' He stammered through clattering teeth, hoarse and weak-sounding. Then he just looked as if he was planning to just keep on stumbling to his desitination, whatever it may be. What an idiot. So I grabbed the young Shinigami by the shoulder, not even that hard at all, but it did stop him. 'Where do you think you're going?' I asked him. No answer. 'You can't keep going like that. Come, sit down somewhere.' He seemed reluctant, but didn't protest when I led him to the sheltered place I had just sat, under an overhanging rock. Only then did he speak again. 'Thank you Rem... really. B-but I have t-to see the King.'

'What for?' I asked it before even realising I thought it. But it did make sense: why would he want to see the one Shinigami who did all this, and more, to him? Had I been him, I wouldn't ever set foot in this place again. Make me a rogue or a renegade demon, whatever you wish to call it, I would refuse to ever think about the King again in any other way but wishing death upon him. In all honesty, I think that was what I felt now already, seeing someone else suffer like this because of him.

'I-I need to ask hi-him why he d-did this... the other punishment was e-enough already-' He broke off coughing, worse than anything I ever heard.

'And you expect him to answer that? Beyond, listen: the King only did this to make it harder for you to kill a Shinigami, like you were planning to do, which means you either have to kill your son or die yourself. That's the only reason, really. If he ever had the intention of letting either you or that child live, he would've given you other options. This one was nothing but a lie, and since you chose it, he's trying to make sure you don't even _have_ that choice anymore in the end.' I wasn't completely sure, ofcourse, but for all I knew, this was the only reason the King would ever do this to a Shinigami. There had been others with severe punishments for something, but never had he done this before.

'A-are you saying I should give up on this?' He demanded, trying to sound angry but terribly failing. Even if he really was angry or frustrated, there was no way he could sound like it right now. 'Because I re-refuse to! I will ne-never kill Raito, and dying isn't an o-option! I can't leave Iris to c-care for Raito all by herself.' Coughed again, then gagged. The poor guy, I really felt bad for him.

I sighed, and sat down beside him. 'Ofcourse not. But that's what the King thinks. But he's wrong: You still have the other option, it will only be a bit harder. But I will help you,' Yes. I would help him kill one of my kind, I had already decided that. If necessary, I would even volunteer as his victim.

He shook his head, closed his eyes and leaned against the rock wall behind us. 'No... don't. I appreciate it, really, but.. what will the King do to you then?'

He will do nothing. He won't be able to do anything, I guarantee you that. But I did not say those words out loud. Instead: 'I do not care. What really matters to me, is that you survive.'

'Why?'

That was too long a story to tell, especially now that it seemed he wouldn't even hear a quarter of it. So not answering, I just stood up, told him to stay there, and went to get an apple. There was a dead tree with the rotted fruit close by, after all. And maybe it would actually do him some good to eat something, since he was still so much like humans. But when I came back and gave it to him, he just grimaced. '...Really?'

'Just try. I know it's not the best, but it's something.' I answered. Though I got quite the idea of what the outcome would be... an idea that was confirmed to be right only seconds later, when he instantly threw up after taking just one bite.

'Well, it was obvious that would happen.' He said, almost complaining. 'Good idea, Rem. Really, thanks...' With a sigh, he stood up again on wobly legs, and looked about to leave. I instantly got to my feet again, too. 'Where are you going?'

'To the King, like I-' Was all he said, before he stumbled.

And collapsed.

I crouched down beside his trembling, unconscious figure, and placed a hand on his forehand. Almost instinctively, you could say, but I think I have watched a few humans when they were taking care of a sick family member quite some times. The love and compassion they express then is just so... interesting. But instantly, I drew back. I wouldn't have been surprised if he would melt right this moment, his fever was that bad. Carefully, I lifted him up -which wasn't hard, for he was light and though already taller than the average human, still small compared to me- and spread my wings to take off.

_I think I know someone who may be able to help you..._

* * *

**And the next chapter will come... soon. Yup.**

**And yet another new PoV, and maybe unexpected. This one wasn't what you expected either, was it?**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading again!**


	26. A Demon's Compassion

**And now, this was an interesting PoV to write. I've never imagined using this one, but whatever, I just did~!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Armonia Jastin's PoV~**

I knew something was wrong the moment I saw Rem flying towards me, carrying a limp figure in her bone-white arms. One that I knew of instantly who he was. Who wouldn't by now, I mean, he's the most famous Shinigami in the Realm right now, throwing aside the rules of our ancient kind, living the life a human would. And he got punished for it, and not just a little bit, either. No, he had to kill his own son.

And I always agreed with our King. Always.

With only few exceptions, that is.

I got up from my golden-and-bones chair the moment Rem landed and laid Beyond on the ground in front of me. I hadn't bothered watching the human world, unlike many of the others in here, but what I had heard seemed to be completely true. He really looked like he could die any moment, if he had still been human. I inspected his trembling figure for a moment, then looked at Rem. 'Why did you bring him here?' It was a fair question. After all, the only reason other Shinigami ever visited me was if they wanted advice on some of the rules of our kind, or our Death Notes. But this...

'Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason,' She began, surprising me. The moment someone addressed me by my full name, they must be serious. Most Shinigami don't even bother calling me "Armonia" Jastin, just Jastin... but adding the whole Beyondllmason (which was a pain to pronounce right, I'll tell you that)? Well, that's unimportant, excuse me for it. 'You are the most intelligent Shinigami in the Realm,'

I dipped my head. 'I know that, thank you.'

The white Shinigami sighed in response. She definitely didn't come here just to tell me that, obviously, but I had no intention of helping Beyond, even though I feolt bad for him, having to suffer like that. 'Please, Armonia Jastin... do you have any idea how to help him?'

I crouched down beside the young Shinigami who lay at my feet, shivering and unconscious. If I had a heart, it would break at the sight. Thank the King I don't. 'I have indeed studied rare conditions on Shinigami, as well as diseases on animals and humans, but I haven't seen this before. It looks like a human disease, you see. That fever, and all the rest... it looks somewhat like a flu, just a severe one.' Extremely severe... I looked up at Rem again. 'But the King did this to him, and helping Beyond now would mean going against the King's will. Do you really want to risk getting punished as well? Who knows what the King will do next, he has the craziest ideas lately...'

It was hard not to see the determination in her eyes as she looked at Beyond and back at me. 'Yes. Armonia Jastin, don't tell me you don't see how unjust the King's actions are lately. And not just with Beyond, but everyone. The world has changed, and you know it. Perhaps it is time for this world to change as well.' She said slowly and monotone as ever, but with such determination and convidence getting through in her words as well, I just couldn't help but consider every single one of them a bit more. The world has changed, that's a fact. Even this world is not what it used to be anymore. But what she meant... what she meant, is that the King should be killed, that we should get a new King, or perhaps a Queen, since the second in command here was Nu, who is female...

Kill... the Shinigami... King.

That's it. That's it! 'Beyond has to kill a Shinigami, right? What if he kills the King, instead of just an ordinary reaper?' I said, hardly realising I actually said those words out loud. It was crazy, insane, outrageous...

And possible.

Rem blinked at me, hope now evident in her gaze. 'And how would he do that? I mean, it _is_ possible, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't mention it.'

I nodded, suddenly unable to stop grinning. If the King died... what would happen then? 'The King is closest to immortality of all Shinigami, but nothing is truly immortal. It's hard to kill someone like him, but certainly possible.' I chuckeled. 'And then, Beyond would be saved, you will have your wish, the King will be dead...' A perfect plan.

Rem seemed only more interested with the second. 'Exactly... But how?'

There goes my excitement. 'I do not know. But I will find out soon, I promise. For now,' I looked back down at Beyond, who now lay curled up, still shivering. 'Let's just try and help him.' I placed my hand on his head, which was burning. His skin, which was still weak and soft as a human's, was damp. In time, his skin would grow harder, like my golden body or Zerhogie and Gook's bones. A young Shinigami like him has a long period of physical changes ahead of them, which usually aren't particularly comfortable. Just look at Ryuk. He was once a human, and if I recal correctly, even a quite handsome one by human standards. But now he's your average demon -though still with a few human features- with blueish-white skin that's rough like a reptile's scales, demon eyes and a crooked back like most of us have. Especially that last part must be rather painful. Talking about painful, I noticed Beyond held his arms around his midriff as he lay curled up. Carefully, I pulled his arms away and placed one on him myself. Which instantly made me forget the whole "it looks like a severe flu" thing. The best description I can give is... like a group of burning snakes is crawling around under his skin...

Certainly not like anything I have ever seen.

I went through a list of things humans usually do when someone is ill, and came up with only two ideas. Looking back at Rem, I asked: 'Rem, do you know if he's tried eating anything yet?'

She blinked, then nodded. 'Yes, I... gave him an apple. He couldn't keep it in, though. Was that a... bad idea?' I shook my head. 'No... no, not at all. But... what about water? Have you tried that?'

The look on the white Shinigami's was one that clearly said "_I'm such an idiot... why haven't I thought about that one yet?!"_ So I just said: 'Well, there's a pool of it not too far from here, so please, get some. You can use one of those wooden bowls used for gambling to carry it.' She nodded and flew off, while I turned back to Beyond. How come I suddenly started caring? Nothing ever mattered to me, besides gathering as much information as I could on as much different subject as possible. Other Shinigami were nothing to me... but this one... and Rem...

They were an exception. Rem is different than most Shinigami, she cares about others, she is sympathetic, smart... almost like a human. As for Beyond, well, I'm now starting to wonder how anyone can _not _feel bad for him now.

But... no, that's unlike me... I don't care, I'm just the source of information in here. I. Do not. Care. It's that simple.

When I saw Rem returning, I lifted Beyond into a sitting position, and took the bowl with water from Rem. 'Beyond,' I said, to which he actually reacted. 'Think you can drink some water?'

He grunted, then said: 'So long as that doesn't taste like dust... I guess.' Oh well, still has his sense of humor, it seems. He lifted a hand to take the bowl from me, but it shook so much I just shook my head. The poor guy, what in the world was the King doing to him... 'I'll hold it for you, you just try to keep something inside for a change, okay?'

And whaddaya know, he actually succeeded. But went unconscious again soon.

So I looked at Rem again, and said: 'What's important now, is that he gets back to his human. I will try to find a way to kill the King, and you...please, bring him back to the human world. he won't be able to travel on his own now, obviously.'

Rem nodded, picked him up again, then left, saying: 'Thank you, Armonia Jastin. So this means I'll be traveling between the Realm and the human world to gather information from now on?'

'Exactly. I hope you don't mind.'

I watched the two as Rem flew away, sitting back down on my golden chair. This would get interesting. Not only had the human world changed, this one was changing as well. But for the better, or the worse? Only time will tell, I guess.


	27. Coming Home

**I'm sorry for the longer wait, and the ridiculous shortness of this chapter... I'm kinda losing inspiration for a moment, but it'll be back soon! (I hope)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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***Damian's PoV***

It had been three days since that strange eclispe. Three days. But so much more since I have been home. I haven't breathed in the fresh air of home in months, and now that I did, it felt surreal. No, actually, the last months now feel surreal instead. Had I really spent four months in Japan, in an alternative universe, fighting a mass-murderer without a face? The only thing to confirm that it had been real now, were Matsuda-san and Allen, who were at my side as we left the airport, accompanied by my parents who came to pick us up. They seemed to feel somewhat uncomfortable around us, even me, though especially Matsuda and Allen. It was obvious why they'd feel like that around _them,_ but why also me? Because I had been gone for so long, perhaps because they gave up hope that I was alive, even after Iris told them I was fine? Talking about her...

'Say, dad,' I said. 'Why isn't Iris here as well? And Amy and the twins?' I couldn't imagine they didn't _want _to come. That would be so unlike them.

Dad shrugged. 'Well, Amy has to look after some other girl from... that world... Sayu Yagami, I think. Lisha and Shayen are at school, even though they protested against it with their loudest voices,' _Yikes._ I began to feel bad for Amy and dad now, having to go through something like that again... 'And Iris is stuck with her partner, whom I think should've died already. Oh, don't get me wrong!' He added quickly when he caught my stunned glance. 'It's not like I _want_ Beyond to die, that would only depress Iris... it's just...'

'It's just _that_ bad.' Mom finished for him. 'After the eclipse, he became... ill, I think, though I'm not sure. And so far, his condition has only been declining, for all I know.' She shook her head, as if she tried to shrug off that thought, then smiled at me and my two new friends. Yes, even Matsuda had become a friend to me in the last months, with his idiocy, and his bravery. What a brave idiot he is, really... 'But right now, let's not think about that! I'm way too glad to have you back, Damian! And two companions won't kill us, now will they?' Then we arived at the car, and mom told us to stop, saying: 'Well, since we haven't take any time to do so yet, I think it's best if we properly introduce ourselves, right? Right.' With another smile, she started: 'I am Johanna, mother of Damian and Iris. And I'm sorry if I didn't look like it a few moments ago, but I really think it's a pleasure to meet you!' Liar. Oh well, she was just being polite... My father only blinked once, and said 'Cornelis.' Not a word more. Oh well, _he_ was just being honest...

I just hope Allen and Matsuda won't screw up.

The latter was first to introduce himself. With a polite dip of his head, he just said: 'Nice to meet you, too. I'm Touta Matsuda, of the NPA.'

Then Allen. He blinked once, looked at both my parents for a moment, then sighed. 'I assume it would be useless to come with an alias now, am I right?'

'We already know you're L, if that's what you mean.'

Another sigh. 'Right... anyway, I would still prefer to be called either Allen, or Ryuzaki. Whatever you think is best.'

I already opened the car's door, ready to go inside. 'Okay, now that that's over, can we please just go home now? I'm exhausted, and so are Allen and Matsuda, if I'm not mistaken.' No answer, though Matsuda smiled nervously, in the way only he could. Yeah, that one. Really, I wouldn't have acted liked this if Allen and dad had been normal, like mom and Matsuda, but those two had disapointed me just now. Especially dad, because... well, it's Allen. You can't expect much more from him.

The way home was long, almost two hours, and in it, we only talked. I got completely up-to-date on the situation at home, which hadn't changed much from before I had left, with only few exceptions: there were a few people from the Death Note world in our hometown, one of them being _another_ L (how many Ls are there?), and apparently, Iris was... _pregnant_. I honestly hadn't noticed when I last saw her, three-and-a-half months ago. When I asked them about it, they said she was already on the sixth... am I so ignorant, or had she just hidden it well? Whatever, that's not even important... I think.

Okay, maybe it was. But not right now, that is. Yeah, right now, I just wanna go home, see everyone again. And no way I'm gonna return to university soon! I'm way too exgausted after the Kira case to even think about studying right now.

But hey... hadn't mom and dad just said there was already an L in our hometown? That means... the L I know will be the second... two of the same persons... in one place. How the hell is that even pos-

-you know what, I don't even care anymore. For all I've seen, it will even be possible for humans to fly and time-travel eventually, just wait and see. I mean, we already travel through dimensions, don't we? So why not also through time? Yeah, two Ls in one place? Oh, why not!

There goes my sceptical view in life. Let the supernatural come, I don't even care!

...

I just want to go home, take a shower, have dinner with the whole family, then go to bed. Not necessarily in that order.

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**So eh... that's it for now.**

**I hope the next chapter will be longer, and better written...**


	28. Change The World

**And I have chapter 28 ready~!**

**Now, this one is finally back to Iris.**

**...Also, I've had some peace and quiet in my inbox lately... absolutely no reviews in almost over a week. Now, I don't want to seem like a nagging, bugging... yeah. But I must admit, reviews would be appreciated again. It kinda makes me wonder, is the quality of this fic declining? I used to have loads of reviews and such...**

**Oh, forget it, I'm just whining unnecessarily here. I'll just get on with the story now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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I stood still in the doorway, staring at Beyond, who seemed to be unconscious or something. 'Beyond?!' I gasped. 'Wh-what happened?!' Instantly, I rushed to his side and crouched down, placing a hand on his forehead. Damn, he was still practically on fire. He didn't react to anything, so I looked up at Rem. Yes, the white Shinigami was here, too. But why? 'Rem-?' Before I could even ask my question, she answered.

'I found him in the Realm, heading to the King. I decided to bring him to Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason -are you familiar with him?' I nodded, and she went on. 'I think you might want to know, this is the King's doing. Armonia Jastin is trying to figure out someway to stop him, and so far, he's come up with only one -killing him.'

_Killing the King!_ I couldn't help but be stunned. That was... ridiculous! It wasn't even possible! ...or was it? And... 'W-why is the Shinigami King doing this?' I just had to ask, even though I could already guess the answer. It was for only one reason, one obvious reason.

Rem blinked once, glanced at Beyond and back at me again, the pointed at my belly. 'Because of that child. It's forbidden for Shinigami. Beyond's original punishment was to either kill a Shinigami, kill the child or die himself. But the King must've decided to add something to make the first option even harder.' Cruel. Just cruel. How could he ask anyone, wether it was a human or a Death God, to kill their own child? You can hardly expect anyone to do something like that... well, not counted in some animal species, but those aren't important now. Then to add this _torture_ as well... great Kami, he was really the King of Death, that was obvious. Maybe the King of Cruelty as well? Who knows...

_And it's all because of Raito!_ I thought sharply, and couldn't help but grit my teeth and let a growl slip from y tongue. I had known, at the start of this... I had known. _If only he didn't exist..._ But now it was too late to change it. It had been too late even before I had any idea he was there.

'So the only way for Beyond to survive...' I said, my voice barely audible. 'Is for the Shinigami King or Raito to die...'

'Exactly.'

I looked up at the white Shinigami standing behind me, glaring. 'So how are you planning to do that, huh?!' I demanded angrily. 'How the hell do you suppose he'll be able to kill the King?! He's so ill, he's practically _dead_, and the King is immortal!' She's got to be kidding me, wanting to kill something immortal!

But she just shook her head. 'No, he is not. The King is as mortal as everything in existense is, we only need to find a way to end him in time-'

'_In time?!_' I yelled at her, my throat tight and my heart racing with rage. 'So you mean Beyond has a _time limit_ to this?!' Just then, Beyond twitched, and let out a whimper. Judging by his expression, he was in quite some pain. Gently, I stroked his damp face, whispering something to him, then turned back to Rem. 'How long?'

Something flashed in her eyes, and she didn't look at me when she answered: 'Currently, he has only little more than four months left, before the King will kill him permanently.'

_Four months..._ so little time left. There were so many words on the tip of my tongue, but they all remained unspoken. This wasn't the right moment for them. So instead, I asked: 'Is there any way Beyond can recover from this before that time?' I tried to look at the Shinigami again, but my eyes were fixed on Beyond's face, and refused to move away from him.

'Armonia Jastin said it's most likely a human disease. You should try treating him like you would treat a human in his condition, he said.'

I chuckled for a moment. 'What, bring him to a hospital?' Like that would be possible. They would just be fascinated by this strange human with claw-like nails, fangs, red eyes, blood pulsing through his veins and a beating heart, but that was absolutely dead in every other way. Oh, and he had retractable wings? Now that's... cool. They would run all sorts of tests, then forget what he even came in for. Hell no.

'Not that, obviously. Water might help, according to Jastin. Against that fever, you see. And rest, but that one is obvious' Why, yes. That's what I've been _trying_ to make him do for days now. 'For now, you should concentrate on helping him recover, Armonia Jast and I will find a way to kill the King.' Rem continued, making me look up in surprise.

'S-seriously? Armonia Jast Beyondllmason, _the_ most intelligent Shinigami _ever_, is willing to help Beyond?' That was... reassuring. Really, utterly reassuring, and a total relief. Surely he'll be able to think of something?

The white Shinigami nodded, bent down to Beyond, and placed a hand on his shoulder. After a moment of silence, she said: 'Take good care of him, Iris. He's important to the whole Shinigami Realm, as well as this world.' Then, without a word more, she spread her wings and left, leaving me to stare after her.

Why was Beyond so important to them? I thought he was the underdog there, always being mocked for his life here. But a voice in the back of my mind already gave me the answer to that. _This is the one reason that world is changing as well. This will lead to some sort of revolution in the Realm, ripping the King from his throne for the first time ever. He is the only reason they have to actually do this._

Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason, Rem... what more Shinigami will join this revolution? Well, I would, for sure. And I bet Madeline will be willing to help, as well, and the same goes for L (all of them), Naomi, Nessa, Damian, Lisha, Shayen... everyone.

My gaze still fixed at the place where the Shinigami had just disappeared, I whispered: 'Thank you, Rem...'

_Together, we will change the world._

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**The next chapter might be up soon, might take a few days. I'm kinda having a writer's block lately, but I'll be back to my usual self soon! After all, school will end in just two weeks ;)**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!**


	29. Make That Three

**Oh gosh, what is this? A longer chapter?**

**Somehow, my Madeline-chapters always turn out to be longer than I think they are XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Madeline's PoV~**

It had been over a month since the eclipse now, and things were only changing for the better. The whole Yagami family had been reunited as well as the task force, and Iris had actually managed to make some progress with Beyond since seventeen days now, and he was almost fully recovered again. The only thing that worried me, were the many appearances of Shinigami in this town, and they all went to speak to Iris and Beyond. Ofcourse, they had told me what they were planning in that Realm, and though I was concerned about it and even rather sceptical, I supported them. After all, that Shinigami King must be really cruel from what I've heard, and not just to Beyond.

Right now, I was at the mall with Nessa, while Naomi and L were trying to find someplace to work. Having been sent to another dimension, they had no other money than the little bit they had with them the moment they came here. There goes L's fortune... what a waste. I had offered the three of them a place to stay at my home, though it was quite small for four people. Too small, maybe. But what else could I do, when my friends had nowhere else to go?

I had also met Allen (the other L, but I just used his alias to evade confusions), and even though I would've liked to see what their reactions would be, we have kept him a secret from L and Naomi and vice versa. That one was with Damian, since the two had become quite close friends (and Iris was thinking her brother wouldn't survive a single day in the Death Note world, months ago? Hah).

'It's rather quiet in here, isn't it?' I said to Nessa as we walked through almost-deserted streets. 'Well, it's never that busy around this time, anyway, so it's no real surprise.'

The young girl nodded, then took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air. 'You know, even though we lived in a prefecture, far from the main parts of the city, this place still has much fresher air than Tokyo!' She declared happilly, which made me chuckle.

'Yes, well, Tokyo is one of the world's largest cities. Prefecture or the middle of the city, the air is bound to be more poluted there than in a small town like this.' I had never paid much attention to it, but the air had indeed been one thing I had to get used to, back in the first year I entered the Death Note world. And it had been so much more crowded than here, wherever you went! Lucky for me, I found I adapted myself to that environment quite well. I looked down at my young friend again, smiling. 'We have the whole afternoon together. Anything you'd like to do here?'

She looked around a bit before answering. 'If you'd like, we could go shopping a bit. Well, looking around for things but not buying anything, that is.' She chuckled for a moment. 'I think neither of us can afford a day of real-deal shopping, now can we?'

'Not to mention I don't even like it that much...' I added, smiling wider now. No, I wasn't a shopping fan, but every once in a while, I just liked being here. 'Well, that's okay. Anything else?'

Nessa chuckled again, and looked away as if she was embarassed. 'Where's the library?' She said, in such a smile voice I barely heard her. That tone of hers just made me burst out laughing. 'Ooh, we've got a book-fan here!' I laughed. Then I just patted her on the head, amused. With parents like L and Naomi, you couldn't possibly _dislike_ reading, not even in the slightest bit, that was obvious. I think there's not one book in my house they haven't read yet, and they've been assigned (or assigned themselves) as Iris' proof-readers for her upcoming novels. And what the hell was not to be liked about books, really? They could easily let you escape into a different world to forget the hard life of reality for a moment, until you closed them again. 'The library's just over there, in that street.'

The girl's face lit up with joy. 'Is it a big library? Many books? And that's where Iris works, right?'

I laughed again. I should do this more often, going out with her for an afternoon. Laughing relieves stress, after all, and is good for your health in many other ways too. 'It's not that big -nothing is in this area- but there are plenty of books. And yes, that is the library where Iris works. Though she's been on a leave of absense for a while now, obviously.'

Nessa nodded, looking even more excited now. 'I know, because of Raito. He'll be born soon, right? Somewhere within two months? I can't wait!' She literally made a little bounce just now, even though she still looked like she was surpressing her joy and excitement with all her might.

'Why's that? I mean, I'd like to meet the little guy too, but I _can_ wait, since we'll have to.' Well, off to the library it is, then. I had my card with me, maybe I could loan a book for her.

Another bounce. 'It kinda feels like he's a cousin or something to me, that's why. You, Iris and Beyond have always been like aunts and an uncle to me when I was younger. So this kid will be my cousin!... kinda.' Then she laid eyes on the entrance to her "little piece of book-heaven", and ran of with a squeal, not bothering to wait for me. Amused, I shook my head and followed a little more slowly. When I didn't look in front of me for a moment, I bumped into something, and found Nessa had abruptly halted a few feet away from the door, staring in an alley. 'What's wrong, Ness?' I asked, following her gaze.

Someone sat against a wall there, knees against his chest and face planted on them, his hands in his hair, looking tense and stressed. The fact I had never seen him like this didn't mean I didn't instantly recognize him.

Make that three.

'Is that... dad?' Nessa whispered, stunned. 'Like, another "version" of him, like you told me about?' I nodded slowly, to astonished to reply. What version was this, and how the hell did he get in a situation like this? Carefully, I took a few steps toward him.

'L?'

He froze, muscles even more tense (apparently that _was_ possible), then looked up at me, eyes wide. 'H-how the hell do you know who I am?!' He demanded, voice shaking. The black circles under his eyes were darker than I had ever seen, he was skinnier than usual (though only a little), and his eyes were blood-shot. I gasped, not only because his appearance was such a shock. _It's the one from the movieverse!_

'I-' I began, then shook my head. The words I was gonna use would only make it worse. 'Look, I can't explain everything right now, but a lot of people in here know you, okay?'

He stared at me, unblinking, then his gaze traveled beside me, behind... at Nessa. And for a moment, pure reflief and joy shone in his black-and-red eyes. But that was soon to be replaced by only more stress, worry and disappointment. 'It's not her...' He mumbled to himself before letting out an exasperated sigh. 'I don't even care... I'm gonna die soon, anyway.'

_He's written his name in the Death Note already! _But then... he must've done so in this world, not his own one, seeing it had been over a month and the time-limit was twenty-three days. But why? I mean, so far, there hadn't been any sign of Kira in this world, so for all I knew, he had no reason at all to kill himself.

While I was wondering and being absent-minded for a moment, L had gotten up. Only after a few seconds did I notice he was staring at Nessa, again with a mixture of disappointment, worry, stress and guilt in his eyes. And again mumbling to himself. 'It's really not her... where the hell is she? Or that boy...'

Then it hit me. Damn, why hadn't I thought about that earlier? Ofcourse, he was looking for Maki and the Thai-boy, who was soon to be named Near. They must've... no, wait.

L is still alive, which means he had written his name in the Death Note _after_ coming here. Which also means that he couldn't have met those two in his original world yet, which means... he's met them here. The only reason L would've met them, is for Watari to be dead, and Kujo...

Kujo, that woman, K... she's working on that virus... in _my world_!

_Okay Madeline, think! L had only ten days left to live when he met the Boy, and only five when he met Maki. Right?_

'L?' I asked quietly, getting nervous. Well, this sure ruins the nice day! 'How long... how long have Maki and the Boy been missing?'

He blinked once, surprised, then opened his mouth. And instantly closed it again, shaking his head. 'Ofcourse, if you know me, you know about them as well... what's wrong with this world?'

'Just answer my question, Ryuzaki!' I decided I might as well use his alias. Why not? Now we have L, Ryuzaki and Allen. 'How long have they been gone?'

'For just over a day. Why?' He really didn't seem to know...

I sighed. 'Because I can try and help you find them. And find an antidote for that virus, ofcourse.' _Think... think, what is it they used?_ _Something like... Mid-kind? It sounded like that..._ 'Have you tried using Mid-kind?' Oh, that's how it's pronounced, or at least almost! He'll know what I mean.

He blinked again, and took a step away from me, almost as if he was scared. 'There's really something wrong with this world...' He muttered. 'And I thought it couldn't get any weirder than Shinigami and a killing-notebook!'

Somehow, I just really got the urge to slap him. The... idiot! Can't he see I'm trying to help?! Then again, had I been in his situation, I might well have reacted the same way. Like a child that lost its parents, in the middle of a strange city, in a strange country. Completely and utterly lost. _Is that why he decided to kill himself?_

Suddenly, Ryuzaki shook his head and walked away rather quickly, as if he was fleeing. Instinctively, I grabbed him by the arm. Not only did those two children need him (and I think he needed them, too), we needed him as well. He's the only person who knows K, and if she's really trying to spread that virus...

'Hold it, Ryuzaki!' I said. He tried to struggle himself free, but he didn't even have half the strenght he used to. Perhaps he really _has_ been living on the streets for a while now. 'I'm only trying to help, okay? You're the only person who knows how to find K, for all I know, and if she's working on that virus the world will be ruined if you leave now!'

After a few more seconds of struggling to get his arm out of my grasp, he gave up and protested: 'I only have eight days left to live,' _Eight? Alright, everything is different..._ 'so there's _no way_ I'll be able to find an antidote in time, okay? I just want to... _have to_ find those kids! I... I promised to take care of them... and then they got kidnapped by K and that stupid Bio-Terrorist club of hers! I have to find them! Who knows what she's going to them?!'

It just doesn't make sense... 'So just what were you doing in this alley, then? Trying to find them here? That's ridiculous!' I retorted angrily.

He flinched, and backed away as if I had just slapped him. And trust me, I might well have, had I not known you just don't hit the world's greatest detective, regardless of the situation. If you did that, you better prepare for some Capoeira-revenge from him. 'I...' He stammered, looking away, clearly ashamed. 'I sorta... gave up for a moment. I don't know this place! Had it been America or England or Japan, I would've found them in no-time! But here... I only just know that I'm in Holland, alright? How the hell am I supposed to find them here?' His tone just slashed into my heart, really. And his eyes... he looked so lost, so helpless... so unlike the L I knew.

'Look, I've lived here all my life, alright? I'll help you find them, and you won't give up on that antidote.' Searching for the last few words to convince him, I almost chuckeled inwardly. 'You're L; you _can _change this world. For the better. Trust me.'

Our gazes locked for a moment, a moment that seemed to last hours, until his dropped to the ground. 'Fine then... and I'm sorry... for how I acted just now.'

I couldn't help but smile. Thank goodness! So I took him over to Nessa, who was gaping at her father's younger-version-from-another-dimension in awe. And shock. 'Say, Ness,' I said. 'You don't mind if we get back to our library-day some other time?' Wordlessly, the girl shook her head, unable to look away from Ryuzaki.

So now I'm on the hunt for two children, and fighting a biological weapon. Woop-dee-doo...

But somehow, I just know it'll be worth it.

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**Honestly, I have no idea why "it would be worth it". Except, maybe, K will probably be caught and humanity won't go extinct, y'know... that stuff.**

**For those who don't know the storyline in L;Change the WorLd... please look it up on the internet or watch the movie, I'm too lazy too explain it all!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**P.S. The next chapter will probably be posted on the thirteenth, which is Mello's birthday (and the ...American... _National Cacao Day!_ I'm so gonna eat chocolate then!) so you might just get a Mello-Chapter!**


	30. Lost Faith

**Hi there! Happy Cacao-day, and happy birthday Mello!**

**For this chapter, I have to things to say: there is a lot of swearing, like really a lot. I think I broke my personal record in this chapter. But hey, it's Mello.**

**Secondly, you might as well turn that into a little game. Let's count how many times I've been writing "fuck", or other things. Yup.**

**Oh, and one last thing: the Mello, Matt and Near in this chapter are from the same world as my Roger Ruvie, so they're a bit younger. Actually, when L was sixteen (which he was in that world) they would've been six, five and two. But I've changed that: Mello is thirteen, Matt twelve, and Near nine.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Mello's PoV~**

I remembered it all too clearly. That day there was some sudden eclipse or shit, and we -Matt, Near (the big-headed twit) and I- suddenly went to some other country. Okay, by now we have realised it's not just another country, but another world. I mean, hey, we aren't the Top-three in Wammy's for nothing, 'kay? It kinda went like this:

_Soft footsteps were heard outside my room, mine and Matt's. I looked up to see who it was -Matt, ofcourse, was once again too much into his game to bother. And when the door opened... I instantly got a bad mood. What the hell is Near doing in my room?!_

_Twirling his hair with one finger, the ugly sheep mumbled: 'Guys, there's an eclipse.'_

_I blinked at him. Why can't he speak a bit louder? I mean, if the fucker _has_ to come into my room, why can't he at least make sure I know _why_ he came?! 'Wha?'_

_'An eclipse. Outside. Right now.' The twit's tone was so mocking, I wanted to shoot him rigt between the eyes. Like, even more so than usually. My intelligence was equal to that of his, he doesn't have to sound like he's talking to a baby!_

_But now that I had heard him, I could hardly pay attention to my frustration and killing-instincts. What the heck? 'An eclipse? Seriously? Isn't the next eclipse supposed to be decades away or something?'_

_He shrugged, and walked away. 'See for yourselves. I just thought, well, just so you know.'_

_I stared after him for a while, not even biting down on the chocolate I had brought to my mouth while he had been speaking. I even think my eye was twitching._

_Then, without warning, I jumped up from the chair I sat on and bolted right out of the room, dragging Matt with me. 'Dude, what the hell?!' He exclaimed when he accidentally dropped his DS because of it. 'I was almost done with that level!'_

_'I don't fucking care!' I yelled, keeping a steady pace. 'A sudden eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, that game isn't!'_

_'Since when do you care?'_

_'Since now! And shut the hell up or I'll confiscate your games!'_

_'I'll eat your chocolate!'_

_I stopped dead. 'You... don't...dare.' I said threateningly. 'After all, I still have a gun hidden somewhere.'_

_Matt giggled. Sometimes he giggled almost like a girl, and somehow, I thought it was almost cute. 'Being busy with illegal shit again, Melly?'_

_Melly. Only when it came from my best friend did I not mind that nickname. The last person that called me that, who wasn't a redhead gamer with goggles and a striped shirt, ended up in hospital for a month._

_Smirking, I walked further, still dragging him over the floor behind me. We passed some other children who live here, but they didn't even look at us. This was a common sight in Wammy's, after all. 'Illegal? Hah, says the cigarette-smuggling hacker! You know, I still have no idea how you even get those cigarettes, since we almost never leave Wammy's without being followed by Roger or some other fucker!'_

_'I have my ways, Melly. You know I have them.' He shifted his weight a bit, or maybe more than a bit, which made me stumble and almost fall. 'Anyway, how did you get that gun?'_

_'I didn't.' I confessed, shrugging. 'But one day, I'll get one. You know, even L has a gun!'_

_'Yeah, but he goes undercover on a weekly basis, so he _needs_ one. Y'know, getting into the mafia isn't always safe, for example.' Mafia, huh? How often had our mentor done that now? Like, five or six times? He was in Australia now, and for all I heard, he was tracking down some criminal gang full of junkies and rapists. The only way to do that is to get into the underworld of the big cities and gather information there. I wonder if he ever had to shoot someone or something, do some stuff like gambling and maybe even use some drugs to make his act believable. Probably. I remember one time, two years ago, when he came back from some job in Russia. That was the time he still lived in Wammy's between cases, you see. Well, when he came back he was rather... ill, I guess. Paler than usuall, that's for sure. Constantly mumbling things like "I'll never go to Russia again. Never" Like, really, he had been complaining about constant headaches for two weeks straight! I guess, maybe he did have to go along with the gang he was after that time, and who knows what those people smoke sometimes..._

_We were outside now, and a few feet in front of us stood Near and Roger. And-_

_'Ow!' Matt whined as he hit his head on the stone stairs he lay on. 'Damnit, Mello, next time you might as well warn me before dropping me and-' He broke off abruptly, eyes as wide as mine. 'Holy crap on Mario's moustache...' He mumbled. 'It's an eclipse! A real-deal eclipse!_

What happened after that... I have no idea. It's a black void in my mind. But one thing I do remember:

_'Okay, who turned off the fucking lights?' I groaned as I tried to get up. My eyes just wouldn't open as far as I wanted them to, and that was damned annoying. Especially since I couldn't see where I was, while I _knew_ it was not at Wammy's anymore. No, from stone under my feet, I had gone to sand. What the hell?_

_'Mello,' That was Near's voice. He sounded just as dizzy as I felt. 'Mind your language.'_

_It was then that I finally managed to open those damned eyes, and saw that I was at some sort of beach. As for Near and Matt, they were here too. But Roger wasn't. Thank God._

_Matt, who seemed to have woken up a little while ago, was staring at the sea with wide eyes and gaping mouth. I went over to him, stumbling on my still-unstable legs, and asked: 'Where the fuck are we?'_

_Matt didn't respond. That is, not directly. 'Holy crap, it's like one of my games!'_

_Well, that won't help. Ofcourse, the first thing the blasted redhead thinks about are his games. Only two options left, then. Figuring it out myself, or..._

_'Near! Where the-'_

_'-fuck are we. I know, I know.'_

_'Really?'_

_'No, I wasn't reffering to our current location, but to your question. I knew what you were gonna ask, you see.'_

_I sighed, kicked at the sand, flopped down on it and tried to figure out how and why we came here, grumbling like crazy._

And that's how it happened. Turns out we were somewhere on an island near the coast of Scotland, in another world. At least we weren't far from our home in Winchester, but when we went there, two weeks ago...

Wammy's House was nowhere to be found. Oh, and you know what else happened? We met Kira. Some guy from the future, it seems. Some guy from the future who kills L, causes my death and Matt's, and then gets caught by Near.

By _Near_.

Oh yeah, that happened as well: I lost faith in humanity.

What the fuck.

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**I counted seventeen, but I might be wrong! And, well, kinda depends on what you call swearing, as well.**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	31. Meeting Me

**Hi again! Posting two chapters today, because they're both horrifically short, but... oh well...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~L's PoV~**

Know those times, when you begin to think your life is nothing but a dream, and that when you'll wake up, you'll be a young child again and realise that everything you thought you had achieved had all happened in one night's sleep? When your life seems so impossible, you feel it _has_ to be a dream? Or perhaps that you're starting to see things, and might be better off in some sort of Nutter's-Home, an asylum or maybe even just dead?

That was how I felt now.

No, really. I mean, I knew there were other dimensions, other versions of my world, and thus more "mes" as well, but never could I have dreamt meeting one of them.

Let alone three.

There we sat, in Madeline's living room, staring at eachother in pure silence: me, another me, another me, and yet another me. Now, I was, ofcourse, the oldest of the four. Then there was this kid that I dubbed "Mini-me". He was eleven. Then you had someone who came from the movie-version of my story, and was twenty-three. He wasn't hard to recognize and tell apart from the others, since he looked more like the actor that played him than like... well, me. And the last one was a pure idiot. I mean, his _alias_. Allen _Lawliet_?! Might as well have broadcasted his name and face and begged Kira to kill him, really.

Now don't go like "Oh! But you used "L" as an alias!", okay? Because that's not true.

I was ten,_ only ten_, when I finished my first case. I never intended to be the world's greatest detective, it just happened. And at that time, I saw no need of using an alias. So the email I sent to the police, telling them I solved the case and all, was signed with _L_. Not as an alias, just my name. That a single letter is just instantly considered an alias instead, well, that was just my luck in the future.

Got it? Right.

Mini-me was a little annoying. He was still in that phase with the crush on K, you see. And when Movie-me told us he had been chasing K, who was now a bio-terrorist, Mini-me instantly went into the defensive-mode. "K would never do that!"

To which Movie-me replied: 'Oh, she did, trust me. She'd kill off all the humans if it was to "restore the eco-system of the Earth", really.'

'Well, I certainly wouldn't have expected K to do something like that,' Idiot-me said. 'I mean, okay, we all know some of our successors went crazy, like A and B, but-'

'What's wrong with them?' Mini-me, ofcourse.

Movie-me rolled his eyes. 'Of_course_, Allen, not _everyone_ here knows yet.'

Idiot-me shrugged. 'A killed himself and B became a serial killer. But that's not-'

'They did what?!'

By now, I was losing my patience with them. Acting a bit like Aizawa had done years ago, I exclaimed: 'Can't you all just shut the fuck up about that shit, and finally get back to the important matters at hand?!'

The other three mes were all stunned at this, and Mini-me said: 'Guuyyyssss, I think old dude is getting pissed!'

'_What?!_' I yelled, no, _screamed_ at the kid. '_Old?!_ Okay, I've had it! That's like, the seventh time this month someone called me _old!_ I may be older than you guys, I'm still quite young, okay? I haven't even reached forty yet, and am still _years _away from, I don't know, fifty or sixty?'

'Thank goodness you are,' Madeline commented, who stood in the doorway, observing the conversation. 'After all, you'll die on your fifty-seventh.'

At this, all of us, me, whatever, jumped up. '_I'm gonna what?!'_

Well, all of us but Movie-me. He just sighed. 'And I'm gonna die in a week...'

The three of us then instantly turned to him. 'How the fuck?!'

'Wrote my own name down.'

That's when Mini-me dropped off. He didn't know the concept of the Death Notes yet, ofcourse. 'Why the hell would you do that?!'

He shrugged. 'I dunno.'

While I was just gaping at him and his insane actions of pure stupidity, Idiot-me said: 'You, other me, have issues. Serious issues.' Ignoring everything that happened, Mini-me, who looked as though he was thinking hard about something, asked: 'What's so bad about writing your own name?'

That's when I just walked away and hit my head against the wall. 'Madeline!' I exclaimed, before readying myself for doing it a second time. Ofcourse, she stopped me before I could give myself a concussion out of pure frustration. 'Why did you bring them here?!'

The girl just laughed. 'Well, you see... I though having four Ls on the case was better than one, that's why!' While she was giggling away, I heard footsteps in the hallway, and then a voice: 'Dad?' Oh shit, it was Nessa. 'Is everything alright here?' I looked up to see her standing in the doorway, giving the other mes a few curious glances before turning back to me, looking quite a bit concerned. 'I heard shouting and... some other things. I know I was told not to come here while they're here as well, but...' She bit her lip. 'Well, sorry. Oh, and by the way: you're bleeding. Didn't mom tell you not to break your skull everytime someone just drives you up a wall?'

I let out a sigh, went back to my spot on the couch and rested my face on my knees. Something I hadn't done in years, really. 'Yeah, she did. No, I don't care. You don't have to be sorry, Ness, I would've done the same.'

By now, the other mes finally managed to speak again, as they ha overcome most of their shock. Movie-me was first: 'Wait, you're that girl from- what?! You're his _daughter?!_'

Nessa nodded. 'Yes, I am. And you're that dude that was practically letting himself rot in an alley yesterday. Nice to see you again.'

Idiot-me just glared at me, then at Movie-me, then Mini-me and back again. 'Why did I ever come here? I thought, since you're all me, you would've had some sense, but I'm afraid that's not the case.'

Mini-me glared back, then huffed and looked away. 'Says the idiot that uses his own name as alias! Anyway, since it will get me killed young, will make my successors and friends betray me and I'll get nut-crazy, I don't think I still want to be a detective!'

And now they were bickering over that. Who knows how long this'll go on. Only one thing was really sure:

I was in for a long day...

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**How "Mini-me" got there: Roger called Watari, who hadn't changed his phonenumber in years, and ended up calling the Watari from Mini-L's world instead of his own one. He told them where he was, and so they came as well, seeing as Wammy's House and all doesn't exist (yet) in this world.**

**But I'm happy! Like, really happy! Just two weeks and I'll finally get my manga, and tomorrow I'll get the novel L: Change the WorLd~!**

**I'm not usually a big fan, but I think I'll like my birthday and christmas this year...**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked this chapter!**


	32. Deus Rursus Est

**Now this is the really short chapter. The shortest thing I've ever written: Only 661 words.**

**Though I do hope you'll enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Light's PoV~**

Everywhere you go, the story will just be the same. Every universe is just as impure, just as rotten. Every single world is dead, rotten to the very core.

All because of humanity.

Humanity. We are the most superior species on Earth, it is our home, our domain, our _playground_. We do with it as we want, after all, it is ours. Animals are in our possession as well, and not just those dubbed "pets". No, we hold power over every living thing on this whole planet. And yet, we do not have the power to control ouselves.

If we had that power, there would be no crime, no suffering, no pain. No destruction, no battles, no war. The world would be a perfect place for everyone, a paradise, a utopia.

This had been in the world I came from, and I had decided to change it. I had gotten the power to change this world, create a better place for everyone. I had been granted it, and had used my gift. My gift, the Death Note.

But when that world ended, I ended up here. In a new world. For a long time now have I been observing, and what my eyes have seen, what my ears have heard, are far from pleasing.

This is not in the least the world I had wanted. No, it was just as rotten, perhaps even more so.

People suffering on the streets, wars being fought, crime being comitted in almost insanely high numbers each day, no, each _hour_. From a corrupted government to petty thieves, this world had it all. A war in the middle-east, a serial killer in LA, gangs in every single coutry, terrorizing the people. This world really had it all. What it lacked, was order, peace, sense.

A God.

But you know the weird thing about this world? It seems like the world I came from was nothing but a story made up in this place. When I searched "Kira" on the internet, there was not a single website I had seen in my own world. Not a single one. Instead, there were things about this series called "Death Note", and Light Yagami, me, who was the mass-murderer Kira.

In this world, Kira was no god. In this world, Kira is just fiction, someone's imagination.

Not. For. Long.

But you know the good part of being someone from an anime? The soundtrack, the music. While I must admit I lost faith in this world as well as in the powers of the Death Note for a little while, that was all restored after I heard a few songs written for Kira.

Perhaps I had been wrong. Perhaps Kira was considered a God, somewhere in the deepest parts of people's hearts. Now, I know this was only soundtrack for an anime, but it did restore my confidence, my faith. I once again believed I could restore this world, create a paradise, and reign over it as a God.

_Rex gloriae, domine Kira_

King of glory, lord Kira.

_Kira, deus, vicit_

Kira, god, has prevailed

_Kyrie eleison_

Lord... have mercy.

Have mercy.

...Only on those who are pure and righteous. Only on those who choose to live as I say, a life free of crime and impurity.

Only on those who do not opose me.

My only message for the people of this world, is that they better watch their actions from now on.

Ofcourse I know my battle for justice, my process of cleansing, will be more dangerous in this world than in the other, since everyone knows me here. But how can I not do this, when the world so desperately needs a God to rule them? And can I not use this against the people? Those who will try to fight me will only be killed. So even if they know I'm their God, how can they stop me? They can't.

_Popule, non timere, nam Kira rursus est_.

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_**People, do not fear, for Kira is back.**_

**I'll admit, I have changed some of the OST lyrics: the one in Low of Solipsism doesn't make sense, that's why.**

**Kira, deus, vici canti. Now, Kira deus (Kira, god) is the subject. So you need a third person verb. Vicit. Vici is first person, meaning "I won" or "I prevailed". As for canti, that's just cantus, which means something like "song" or "chant".**

**So basically, it means "Kira, god, I won song"**

**See my problem?**

**And I didn't do this on my own, really. It's all true. Though I do have Latin in school, I'm not really great at it. So I asked my teacher, and this was just what he said, m'kay?**

**Yup.**

**Well, I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	33. Answer my questions, please

**I gotz a new chappy~! And I'm making the story so complicated, I'm losing tack of things myself a bit XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Iris' PoV~**

I was waiting for a lot of different things. And neither of them was something you'd like to wait for. Not that they were bad things, not at all. But the _reason_ it has to happen is just terrible.

First, there was the news about Maki and the Thai boy, who still hadn't been found. Ryuzaki had only six days left to live by now, there still was no vaccin for the virus, and if you ask me, he was starting to give up hope. If he hadn't done already, that is.

Secondly, there was the news from either Rem, Ryuk, Sidoh, Armonia Jastin or Zerhogie, the Shinigami that had joined the revolution against their King. If they had found a way to kill the King, or anything useful, really. So far, there was nothing but things like "Armonia Jastin and Rem are still trying to figure something out, we'll succeed"

Yes, I believed that. But would it be in time? After all, Beyond had only just more than three months left to do this, before he'd be killed. Well, at least he had almost completely recovered again.

Then there were the unanswered questions I had. How could this have happened, the mixing of two worlds? I'll probably never know. And where are the other characters? And just how many worlds were there, that were now one with my own? If there's one for the movies, the novels, the manga and the anime, and perhaps even more... please tell me there's not one for every fanfiction as well!? That would be horrific, seeing as there were over thirty-thousand Death Note fanfics only on the fanfiction website, and so much more that have been written but never published like that, or perhaps on other websites. Certainly not? Or at least, those couldn't all have been mixed with this world.

And a few more questions: where is Kira? Surely Light hasn't given up on that?

Or, since Beyond came from what I thought had been the anime-dimension, before my and Madeline's actions had changed it so that it became its own story Where the hell was BB? Hopefully _that_ one was locked away alrea-

Locked away. Yeah, sure, but L and the others had been in Japan when they came here, Roger, Watari and Mini-L had been in England, and look where they all ended up! A few steel bars don't stop that.

'Damnit, damnit, damnit!' I exclaimed as I jumped up from where I had sat, instantly going to my computer. 'Damnit, tell me it's not true!'

'What's not true?' Came Beyond voice from somewhere above me. He was dangling from the ceiling again, something that seemed to be his hobby. Only his head, chest, shoulders and part of his arms were visible, the rest was either in the ceiling itself or on the other floor. He must've heard me just now. 'Iris, what's wrong?'

'You are!' Whoops, that came out rushed and quite the wrong way. 'Er, I mean, the other you is, the one that's still-'

'-a complete and utter psycho, sucking strawberry jam right out of the jar and cackling to himself like crazy?' How indifferent could a person sound, really? Well, okay, it was obvious he did care there was a seriel killer version of him on the loose, but... well, talking about yourself like that, even if it had been true once... He now flew down, and landed beside me. 'Yes, he'll be a problem.'

I nodded, tapping on the desk as internet was once again being slow, thus turning its back on me. Had I not heard something about a murderer in LA? Oh, for Kami's sake, don;t let it be BB...

And finally, I could go to Google, typed in "Murders in Los Angeles"... and found that this was absolutely the wrong thing to search on. So after not even a minute, I decided to add "recent" as well. And soon changed that to "2021", this year.

And there it was, the type of name I had been afraid of: First victim was killed five days ago, male, name Benjamin Bulloch. BB. Second victim came only yesterday, young female, name Quincy Quene. QQ.

'Holy shit!'

Beyond tapped me on the shoulder calmly. 'My thoughts exactly, Strawberry. But don't forget that thousands of people know that book, know about me... they'll catch him soon. Plus, we have four Ls here, and a Naomi Misora. He'll be caught before he can even get the supplies for his suicide attempt.'

'Yeah, but one L is a child who refuses to be a detective after yesterday, and the other has a stunningly long lifespan left: Five whole days and a few more hours. Then there's this L who hasn't done detective work in over twelve years, and that leaves only one, for all we know of. Oh, and all he;s talking about since that oh-so great meeting yesterday, is that he might just be the only L who has some sense left! Really useful. And Naomi? Please, she hasn't been into detective work for as long as L has, she won't be much of a help. And you are more than intelligent enough to avoid being caught, even if everyone knows about you.' I retorted, to which he looked at the floor a moment, considering those words.

'Yeah, you're right. I probably could.'

I nodded, and added: 'And besides, if he had been in prison in the other world, it means he must've done his suicide attempt already. Why bother trying a second time? Surely not even BB's like that?'

'Nope. At least I wouldn't do it, that's for sure.'

Just great. Just great, really. Then again, it was somewhere in LA, America, far away from me and anyone close to me. And people get killed everyday. So why would I care? Because he's a character from some other dimension which I happen to know? That's just stupid.

All I hope is that he won't come here, or anywhere near my family or friends.

But I _did_ seem to be a trouble-magnet lately, didn't I?

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**Next one will be up soon!**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	34. Misfortune

**I gotz a present for you~! Two chapters, and _not _horriffically short!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~BB's PoV~**

BB. QQ. Exactly as I had done before. BB. QQ. Then would come another BB. Then me.

But why? What reason did I have? Was L here, L...L Lawliet, the Lost One, the Last One? Was he here, chasing me? Or were my actions purposeless this time? Was this right, would it have the same outcome as last time? No. No, no, no, no. Didn't want that, not at all. No more mistakes, no failure, no embarasment, no pain.

And most importantly: _No. Fire._

Oh, no, fire had become my enemy. I had once thought of it as a friend, no, an acomplice, but it had failed to do its duty. It didn't kill me, like I had wanted it to.

It would've, had it not been for her. Her, _her_. Misora. Misora-san.

Naomi.

A growl rose in my throat, making it feel as though pierced by many needles, many, many needles. The fire had marked my skin permanently, the smoke my throat and lungs. Oh, I hated it so, that pain, the neverending pain. Neverending, yes, but with a break. It's had a break. In hospital. I hate hospitals.

But this particular hospital visit had been great, for they took away the pain. Temporarily. But they did it. Yet, had I not gone there, I would be somehwere else now. Dead, dead, dead. In the land of the deceased, together with my victims, my family, and all the other dead people!

And... A. A, my best friend, Alt.

Why did you succeed where I have failed? Why did you take your own life, but left me behind? You could've -_should've_- taken me with you! But no, my numbers were not at their end yet, my numbers. Did I even have them? Why can't I see them? Can Shinigami see their own numbers? Shinigami. Gods of Death. I had prayed to them to take me, I really have. But no, no one and nothing seems to want me, not even death. Only prisons, asylums and misfortune.

Asylum... haven't been there yet. No, I had only been out of hospital for a week when I came here. Just a week, really. I had heard they were going to send me there, but they didn't get the chance. Oh no, misfortune was once again on my side, its shadow looming over me. Asylums seem to be more comfortable than prisons. Private rooms, no screaming prisoners. The privacy. And the silence. And the solitude. The _privacy_. No one listening when I would practice my laugh again, no one looking up at it. They all did that, right? Not in prison, oh no. I laughed one time, after waking up from this wonderful dream (I killed Naomi Misora-slut), and was instantly considered a nutter. Well, they had been right.

Or not, perhaps? Was I crazy, or was I not?

Was the rest of the world perhaps crazy? Might well be so.

'Hey there, honey, looking for some fun?' A voice came as a hand was placed on my shoulder. A slender hand, and small. Female, obviously. Though the voice was so hoarse -probably from smoking- it didn't confirm that fact. But those words... great Shinigami, ofcourse... just my luck, walking into an alley like _this_ during my thinking. See what my problem is with the damned misfortune? It's there, constantly there, never leaving my side.

'Not at all.' I answered, shrugging that hand off but not turning to look at the owner. 'I'm not the type for that, especially not if it costs money.' So just leave me. Right now. Although, if I could just take one glance at her numbers... would they end today? If so, then it'll probabl be my duty to-

I winced as the slender fingers went around my face and gripped my chin, long nails digging into my not-yet-healed scars. 'Really now? You sure?' She turned me face so I had to look at her, and I couldn't help but not struggle at all. Struggling would only tighten that grip, and on my scars... And if I pulled that hand away, chances are those nails would cut me. _Misfortune, just find someone else to play your stupid game with, or I swear you'll be my next victim, even if you're not a BB!_

Yikes. That hooker sure was an ugly one. Though she seemed to think the same of me, since she flinched the moment she saw my scars. and the Eyes, they probably helped as well. Yet, she just said: 'You ought to try it at least once, you know.'

'No, I don't.' I glanced at her numbers for a moment. Rachel, that was her name. But those numbers were still far too long, darnit! 'Now let go of me, and just let me walk out of here. If you do that, you won't be harmed.'

She chuckeled for a moment. 'Threatening, are we? I like that... You know what, I think I like you enough to make it free for you.' _Wow, what an honor... am I supposed to be happy now?_ I thought sacrastically. 'Anyway, why would you leave? You look like the type who has bussiness in places like this...'

I blinked once, rolled my eyes and swiftly pulled my knife, holding it under her chin. 'Actually, I do. But not _that_ type of bussiness. Now leave. And this has never happened, got it? No scarred guy with red eyes holding a knife against your throat. No, if you tell someone about this, I'll come and kill you, anyway. Let me tell you, I'm an expert in murdering people.'

Not a word more, and the bitch ran off.

Thanks for leaving me for a moment, misfortune. _Though I bet you'll be back soon._...

Well, this was just the one last thing to make me certain of this: I was so gonna leave LA. As damned soon as possible. Too many streets like this one, you see. Or worse. If it weren't hookers, it were dealers or murderers-

-'Kyahaha!' I cackeled to myself. 'Look who's talking, BB! Just look who's talking! Kyahaha!' And within seconds, I was out of this alley... and into another one. And lucky enough for it to be empty, and even behind some restaurant. Which means I'll have a dinner tonight, unlike yesterday, and the day before... and the day before... by all Shinigami-Humans to have ever existed, perhaps prison wasn't that bad at all. At least I hadn't been this hungry in there, even though there has never been strawberry jam during that week.

As I went to the trash containers, looking for something... still edible... I began to think again.

So I'm leaving LA. Where to next? I don't have anywhere to go. Wammy's wouldn't take me in, not a chance. Prisons didn't seem to know me anymore, seeing as I went there once, stood in front of the gate -and got sent away by some guards. Strange world, really.

World... is this-?

Nah, impossible, BB! You're imagining things -ofcourse this isn't some other world than the one you come from!

But seriously, where to next? Ah! Some bread, and half a tomato! And lookie that, the bread's only partially molded! As for the tomato... still edible, I guess. If not, I'll just get sick, who cares. So long as I can eat something.

Now where was I? Oh, right: destination.

I first took a bite of the tomato -which I instantly spat back out and threw the remaining bit away. Not edible after all, it seems. Next was the bread, and lucky me, that still tasted just fine. Somewhat.

Not Wammy's, not prison, not an asylum, not the Realm of Death... then what? Where can I possibly go?

I sighed, went to some corner that didn't seem too damp and cold, and sat down.

_No one and nothing wants me, not even death._ How true those thoughts had been. And it stung, just as bad as my burns stung every now and then. I may be a murderer, a cold-hearted sociopath and a psycho... I wasn't emotionless, you know? Being rejected by not only society, but the whole world, it hurt me as much as it would anyone else. I had no home, I would never have one. At least, before I started the LABB case, I had my ocassional hideout, some of them even containing a _bed_, but now I had nothing left. Nothing but my own mind, a sanity no one could be sure of. Maybe a sanity that didn't exist...?

No, if anything, I knew that I _wasn't_ insane. I may seem like it, and my own mind isn't always convinced of my sanity, I _was not insane._ And absolutely _no_ monst-

Yes, I was. I was a monster, a killer, a silent hunter of the night. I had become that and there was no way back. Why even _think_ of trying to change? That was the one thing that was impossible. The day I become like any normal civilian again, is the day I can see my own numbers. It'll never happen.

And you know what? Perhaps I don't even care. Scrap that "perhaps", I don't give a damn. This is who I am, and I'm not gonna change.

...Oh yeah, I still have to think of where to go next. Maybe not a specific place, but a person? L, maybe? Nah, it'll take to long to find him. Just... think...

As I did, I eventually drifted into sleep. But not before making up my mind.

* * *

I had to hold my laughter. This place too public. But it was just _so hard_ not to! Just over an hour of searching on the internet in some internetcafe, and I found it. Applying for a new job, hm? Why, is the FBI not good enough anymore? Anyway, I may have hacked into a thingy or two, I did have her e-mail adress now. And her location.

_Naomi Misora: currently in Holland, in a small town right next to Zwolle._

Yeah, I think I can get there...

A grin crossed my scarred face. _Get ready, Misora. I'm back._

* * *

**...**

**Next chapter is up, too!**


	35. Night's Hunter

**And here's the next chapter!**

**Discclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~BB's PoV~**

It was only two weeks after my decision, that I stood in front of a house in that damned small town. For all I knew, I had never been in a town this small yet in America or England. But it was also the size of this place that somehow... made me feel safer. I think. Don't ask me why, it's just true. This doesn't look like the kind of place with murderers, gangs and whatnot hiding in every alley at night. Some rebelious teenagers, maybe, but nothing really dangerous.

That is, until I came along.

_So this is where Misora-san lives now? _I was still dumbfounded as to why she even left America in the first place, but not going back to Japan. Why Europe?

_That's my continent..._

Well, at least I wouldn't even give her the chance of going to the UK. The moment she'd set foot on Brittish ground, I swear, I'll slit that bitch's throat! That's _my_ home.

No. No, I don't have a home. Haven't had one in years, ever since I left Wammy's.

I shook my head, and crept closer to the window in the darkness of the night. This wasn't the time for an unstable part of my mind to take control, no, I had to concentrate. Do not get seen, do not get heard, and I'll be just fine. And she won't. Lucky for me (wow, I was sure lucky these days) there was still a gap between the curtains, so I could look inside, maybe find a spot where I could hide until she came downstairs in the morning, unaware of me being there, unaware of her nearing death... I already had the perfect plan.

But what I saw was so different from what I had expected. Firstly, because Naomi was downstairs, not upstairs where I expected the bedroom to be. Yet she was asleep, on a chair. Her lifespan had gotten much shorter since I last saw her, as if not months, but years had gone by. And not just her lifespan seemed to tell me that. She _looked_ older as well. And that's not the only thing, oh no. The second thing I noticed made my breath stop for a moment. Because Naomi wasn't the only one slumbering on that particular chair. She lay there beside someone else (two people on one chair... yeah, right), her head resting on that person's chest as they both slept. And even though he had changed as well, I didn't even need to see the name above his head to recognize him. _L Lawliet_... You've got to be kidding me! L and Naomi?! Both... _at once_...

But the third and last important thing I saw, shocked me so that not only my breath seemed to stop, but also my heart. No... no, seriously? Ah ha ha! That's just _perfect_!

On the couch opposite to Naomi and L, lay a girl who looked to be around eleven, maybe twelve years old. Not only did she look like the two other people in that room, her name had one important thing in common with one of the two, as well. _Vanessa Lawliet_.

Nah, who'd have thought that? Not only did I find my two greatest enemies in one place, I also found their daughter here. I instantly threw aside my earlier plans, and made a new one. No, why kill Naomi and L while I can also go for the little girl? Now that would be a revenge. L took away the one person close to me, the one person I had loved, my friend Alternative. Now I'll take away his little girl... As for Naomi, this will hurt her so much, it'll make her wish she was dead. Exactly how I had wanted to die. But would I give her that chance? No, for she had not given me that chance, either! Truly the perfect revenge. But I wouldn't kill the girl immediately. No, I'd give them the idea they can still save her, and when they almost do... that's when she'll die.

And why wait? I might as well take her now, right?

Doing my best to hold back my laughter, I went fromt my position by the window to the front door -I was bold enough as to take the front door, yes- and began fiddling with the lock. How often had I not done this? Criminals do not often have only one profession, you know. I was a skilled killer, burglar, pickpocket and many more things. How do you think I got the money to get on the airplane to get here? Only it was a shame that my skin was so pale it practically lit up at night. Well, it was less so now that it had been mutilated by the flames, but still.

Barely a minute had passed before I heard a soft clicking sound from the lock, and the door opened. Softly, I went inside, sneaking as quietly as I possibly could. And damn, could I sneak! Silent as the dead, nothing but a shadow in the night. Now, I had my drug with me, didn't I? For a moment, I felt in the pocket of my torn jeans. Yes, still there, I hadn't dropped it somewhere. Good. I sneaked up behind the couch, slowly lifted the needle above her, and then stuck it into her neck. Well, almost that is, before the lights went on and an arm went around my own neck, choking me from behind. Damnit, I had been so careful as to wake no one!

'Good thing I was thirsty,' A young, female voice came from the person holding me by the throat. 'Otherwise, you might actually have killed Nessa!' I struggled to free myself, but in vain. Damn, that girl knew how to keep someone in a barren position, that's for sure! By now, L and Naomi woke up as well, and then followed the little girl, Vanessa.

'Madeline, was it really necessary to-' L complained sleepily, then broke off and widened his eyes in shock at seeing me. Naomi had the same reaction, and the girl backed away, scared, and hid herself beside her mother, suddenly looking like a child only half her age. 'What is-?'

'Don't just stand there!' The girl behind me, Madeline, said to them, sounding agitated. 'Help me restrain him! The guy may be like, twelve kilos underweight or so, he's damn strong, you know!' Instantly, L jumped up and within a second, he stood beside me, while Naomi ran off, saying 'I'll get a rope or something!' Just then, I had freed my arm, and flashed the needle I had only just tried to get into his daughter, now at L. But he had noticed too soon, grabbed my wrist before I could drug him, and twisted it backward so I dropped it. And I was damn sure I could feel something break in my wrist, as well. Not letting go, L swiftly picked it up from the ground with his free hand and pointed it at me. 'A rope won't be necessary, Naomi!' He called, before turning back to look at me, glaring. But he failed to hide the shock and even slight fear from his gaze.

I just grinned at him, chuckling softly. 'Hi, L. Long time no see, huh?'

His eyes narrowed only further. 'Shut up, B!' The person behind me shifted. 'B? You mean, Beyond Birthday?' _How does she-?_ When L nodded, her grip on my neck tightened, and with her other hand, the one she had used to keep my arms still a moment ago, dug into my face with sharp nails, eliciting a grunt of pain from me. The stupid _bitch!_

Naomi was back now, standing protectively beside Vanessa. 'What are you doing here?!' She demanded angrily.

'Heh, I was looking for you, Misora Massacre. What else?' I replied, grinning once again.

'How did you find us?'

'Internet.'

'How did you escape from prison?'

I blinked at them in silence. Then rolled my eyes, saying: 'Can't tell you what I don't know, now can I?'

'Then I have on more question,' Came a voice from behind, from Madeline. 'What were you planning to do to Nessa?'

'Well, the usuall,' I replied monotonously, shifting in another attempt to free myself. 'Drug her with that stuff L has there, then abduct her, then kill her. Perfect revenge on you two, now isn't it?' I started laughing, partially because of my own foolishness. 'But obivously, I wasn't thinking when I tried it: her numbers are too long, I wouldn't have been able to kill her, anyway, nor any of you! Kyahaha!' How stupid I had been. But perhaps, did my numbers stop now? Was this finally the end I had been hoping for, waiting for so patiently?

Please, let it be.

L pressed the tip of the needle against my neck, but before injecting the drug, asked: 'Is this a deadly dosis?'

'Not at all.'

'Good.' And with that, my own weapon was used against me. Good thing it worked so fast, I hate the feeling of slowly passing out. No, this thing made my world go black within seconds.

* * *

**And I promise that the next xhapter will be up soon! And that this was most likely the last thing I'll add to make the story more complicated XD**

**Perhaps I should kill a few off, just to get rid of them? Nah, joking...**

**although...**

**Well, you'll see! (Since I don't know yet myself...)**

**Hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	36. Killers

**Hi there!**

**I've got to new chapters today. And finally christmas break! Two weeks school-free, which means I'll be able to write more!**

**Also, I'm sorry for the short lenght of these chapters. I hope you'll enjoy them anyway.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Madeline's PoV~**

'Well,' I said, on the phone with Iris. 'The task force has its own makeshift-HQ just outside town, remember? That's where he'll be locked up for interrogation, and whatever more.' I was telling her about how BB had broken into my house, and attempted to kill Nessa. I was on the backseat of Soichiro's car now (the one that he bought second(third?)-hand only a week ago and practically broke apart already, but was better than nothing) as he drove to the HQ I was talking about, L beside me and on his other side, a still-passed out B. He's been like that for almost two hours now. That drug he had with him appeared to be a strong one. Matsuda was here as well, on the passenger seat. Naomi had decided to stay behind with Nessa, try and calm her down -she was quite in shock after what happened- but maybe also to calm herself.

'I was already afraid something like this would happen,' Iris answered on the other side of the phone. 'I mean, are we trouble-magnets or what? Every shitty thing that can happen, _happens_. Well, almost.'

True, true. We attracted a lot of trouble, the two of us. It all started years ago... the first dreams... good times. Which instantly brings us to Mello's amazing writer skills: _Good memories and nightmares_. Absolutely true. But hey, good things happened as well, right? Okay, lately there was just a mountain of crap being build, but we can get rid of that again! 'Oh well, shit happens.' Was my shortened version of that thought. Seeing we had arrived at our destination, I quickly said: 'I have to go now. I'll call you again after we get this done, alright?' And hung up.

Once we were inside and had B locked up, handcuffed and tied to a chair even though he was still completely out cold, I took a moment to study him a little more than I had done so far. He looked a little different from Beyond: his skin wasn't as pale and still criss-crossed with scars, practically mutilated by them. They must be a lot fresher, newer. Despite those burns making it harder to notice, I could easily see he was young, younger than me. Not surprisingly: Beyond had been twenty when I first met him, which was over two years after the LABB murders. Which means this B was only eightteen, perhaps even seventeen. He looked really exhausted, he would probably sleep longer than the drug (whatever it had been) would actually work. And really, I know the whole L-group -including his successors- was underweight, but I had never seen it this bad. Not even Movie-L was as thin as B was.

All in all, it almost made me feel bad for him. Now, had it been Beyond, there would've been nothing wrong with that. But B? He's already proven to be a psycho, not in the least as civilized as his other self was. Showing pity for him would be just crazy. And so I wouldn't. Simple as that.

Well, maybe not as simple as I thought. After all, he really _did_ look awful. And his age... Kami, he was just a kid. Okay, a little more than just a kid, but you know what I mean.

I turned to L, who was leaning against the wall, glaring at his unconscious ex-successor. 'So what are you planning to do once he wakes up?'

'Ask him what the fuck he's doing here, ofcourse!' He answered, gaze not leaving the prisoner. 'Perhaps a few other things as well, you know, something that might be useful. Though right now, I can't think of such a thing yet. But who knows, maybe we'll keep the asshole alive a little longer than a day.' With a grin, he added: 'But trust me, if he's still planning to hurt Nessa, or anyone for that matter, I'll kill him with my bare hands!'

'No you won't.' I said as I looked up at the ceiling. I had been right: there were two surveillance cameras in here. 'I'll go now. And don't kill him yet, got it? That is, don't kill him at all. How much different will you be if you do? Bye!' At least, with those cameras, I could be sure it was safe to leave him with B. L wouldn't attack him or vice versa, once B's back from... wherever he's now. But far away, that was obvious.

Perhaps I'll get him a jam-sandwich later on. After all, the guy looks like it's been over a month since he's had a proper meal, which could well be true. But that's the only thing I'll do for him! Some food, alright, but nothing more for a creep like that! I mean, not even in a real prison do they starve the prisoners, now do they? At least they're not supposed to.

'How're things going with psycho and weirdo now?' Soichiro asked from where he sat on the couch, reading a newspaper as I came in. I just shrugged. 'Fine, I guess. B's still out like a light, and L... well, how would you react if someone tried to kill Sayu or Light?'

A moment of silence passed before he answered: 'Oh, well... forget I ever called him a weirdo.'

'Will do.' Then I sat down as well, beside Matsuda, who was following the news on TV. Trying to, that is.

'I'll never get Dutch!' He complained. 'I've been trying to learn it, really, but it's hard!' I just smirked and watched. Some of the usuall stuf, nothing really interesting or important. Some politics, which was a real joke, some international news, some mur-

My heart practically stopped, and beside me, Matsuda gasped. He may not get a word that was being said, he knew the name.

'No...' I whispered. 'No, you've got to be kidding me! Not here!'

Just then, my cell phone rang. I picked it up and slowly brought it to my ear, not even bothering to say "hello". 'Madeline?' Iris' voice sounded frantic, panicked like I felt. 'Are you watching the news?'

'I am.'

'It's-' I broke her off before she could utter another sound.

'-Kira.'

* * *

**Dun-dun-duunnnnn...**

**...**

**Sorry for that!**


	37. Army

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Light's PoV~**

Weeks had gone by while I was readying myself for my comeback, but what a comeback it was. One criminal in each country dying all at the same time, in the exact same way: plain heart attack, but not before writing the name Kira on a wall. Kira, in various types of letters. The normal western letters, Japanese (both Katakana and Hiragana), Chinese, Arabic, Greek, and so much more. Practically everything you can imagine, just to make sure the message gets through. My Death Note had once again served me well. All in all, this little project made me use four whole pages, even though I wrote pretty small.

I was watching the news now. Every single channel had been switched to the same thing: Breaking News; "Kira" Serial Killings

Kira, yes. Killer, that was true, but a killer for justice. And not only that, no...

Kira is also the God of this world. All humanity needs is a little push, just a little _something_, but they'll see in the end. They'll come to realise that Kira is justice, Kira is god. And that I am Kira.

And the Shinigami, I have decided for them to get a place in this world as well. As my servants, that is. More like my right-hand partners, for the better of them. Ryuk, although an idiot, does sure classiffy for that title, and even if she's a nuisance right now, Rem does as well. This other Shinigami here, Sidoh, no. No, he's too much of an idiot. But Dalil, she was perfect for that role.

Oh? Had I not yet mentioned that my little Death God army has increased in number? It has, just so you know. Now, Kira had not only Ryuk and Rem on his side, but also Sidoh, Dalil, Gook, Calikarcha, Zerhogie, Meadra, and this other Shinigami, one that I could never have dreamt of having on my side. Nu, besides the Shinigami King, highest in rank in all of the realm.

Ofcourse, not only had the number of Shinigami increased, the number of Death Notes had, as well. But due to the rule of there being only three able to exist in one world as the same time, and apparently there already w_as_ a killer notebook in this world somewhere, only two of them were actually useful. The other seven were safely locked away, only to be used once the other two I have now have to be destroyed somehow.

But do you think I'm doing this all on my own? If you do, you must be an idiot. No, I had Second-Kira, Yotsuba-Kira and X-Kira here, too. And if that wasn't enough...

'It went well, didn't it?' A voice sounded behind me. Turning around, I saw an exact copy of me just walking into the room. Exact, maybe, but younger. This one was still a teenager, while I was twenty-three. But that's alright, since we have the same ideals and same intentions. Behind him came another me, only he wasn't as much a copy as the other one. But it was still me, still Light Yagami, still Kira.

'It went just as planned...' I answered, grinning as I turned back to the TV while the two other Lights came to sit on either side of me, spectating our own show.

'So, it should be soon now, right?' One of the two asked. 'The day that we'll see if L is here, too.'

Yes, that had been part of our plan as well: provoking L to show up again, getting him right back on the case. Then, with three Shinigami-Eyed Kiras on our side, Misa Amane, teru Mikami and Kyosuke Higuchi, we were sure to find his name and kill him. Him, and anyone that works with him. We had already decided not to make the mistake of keeping the police alive this time, for that was sure to only bring trouble.

Oh, and one more thing: the people of this world knew me already? Well, that won't be a problem. After all, they know all of the Kiras in here, but would they expect so many Shinigami to be with us, or for there to be three Light Yagamis? No, they wouldn't. And even if they would, we were sure to find a way and change that to our benefit.

Nothing will stop Kira now.

* * *

**I hope you liked it, thanks for reading, and merry christmas everyone~!**


	38. Last

**Sorry for the short chapter, but my inspiration for OBA hasn't come back completely yet... But it will!**

**Also... can someone help me with an idea of how to kill the Shinigami King? I've been wondering about that ever since I wrote it, which is a while, but I just can't think of anything! So help would be appreciated ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Iris' PoV~**

Don't ask me how, but we managed it. We actually managed to find Maki and (Thai) Near _and_ the antidote for the virus, all in one day. And the last day Ryuzaki would live. Now isn't that just perfect? And the scene I was looking at right now was simply cute, extremely cute. But heartbreaking at the same time.

After all, I don't think Maki and Near know that Ryuzaki is actually gonna die in... just a few minutes from now, really. He knew himself, yet he made no attempt of telling them, or perhaps just getting them away from him so they wouldn't be there when he died. No, the cute part, was that Maki and Near, exhausted as they are, just fell asleep. He was sitting against a wall, with them in his arms and asleep against his chest, while he was just smiling a bit. Really, it was so obvious he loved those two kids, and they loved him as well. If you ask me, it's like he's their older brother or something.

'Hey, Ryuzaki,' Madeline asked, her voice soft as to not wake up the two children. 'How long do you have left now?'

He blinked at her, then looked back down at the kids sleeping in his arms, the smile now gone. 'Depends on the time...'

'It's twenty past eight exactly now.'

'Then... seven minutes.' Maki stirred now, blinked her eyes open and looked up at him. 'What's seven minutes?' She asked sleepily.

Ryuazki flinched. 'N-nothing, Maki. Nothing. It's... not important.'

Judging by the look in her eyes, she didn't believe a word of it. But she had known him for long enough to know that you just don't argue with L when he's trying to keep something a secret. You just don't. So instead, she just snuggled a bit closer to him. 'I knew you would come and save us...' She said, smiling. 'I don't know what Near thought, he never speaks much, but... I knew you would. You had promised, after all, that you would always help us when we need you.'

'I did. And I meant it.'

'Ryuzaki, would you...' She trailed off for a moment, then asked. 'Would you... adopt us? Or at least me, if Near doesn't want to?'

Oh, by Kami. Wrong question, wrong time! Ryuzaki went rigid when Maki asked that, obviously not knowing how to answer. And really, I wouldn't have known, either, had I been in that position. 'I-' That's as far as he got, really. He broke off so abruptly, I thought for a moment he had that heart attack right now. But thanks goodness, that wasn't it. Quickly, I checked my watch. Just four minutes left. It's just as I said. Heartbreaking.

'Well?' Maki urged. 'It's a simple answer, really. Just yes, or no. So would you want to?'

He sighed, seemingly finally having found the right answer. 'Maki, I swear, I'd want to. And I would, but unfortunately, I...'

'Can't? Why not?' When she asked this, Near woke up as well. Oh, yes, just add up to it, really. He looked confused for a moment, but seemed to get everything when Ryuzaki said: 'Look, Maki, I just... can't. But as I said, I would if I could, really. But I know something else. Remember how you were told to look for someone called Watari?'

'Yes. You said he's dead.'

'He... isn't. You can go to him instead, okay? He's a good friend, and will take better care of you than I could, I promise.' Maki didn't accept this. She pounded her fist against his chest, tears in her eyes. 'Why can't you, Ryuzaki? Because of your _job_? Near and I have both been through worse, and we could help you with cases as well, you know we can! Please, Ryuzaki, _please!_'

Ryuzaki slowly shook his head, looking just as about to cry as she was. But not for the same reason. 'No, Maki, it's not that. I know you wouldn't care about that, but...'

'But what?!'

'Please just stop! Maki, _stop it_, I-' He broke off again, but this time not because he couldn't find any good words. It was time. He quickly held the two of them closer, so tight they could've just choked, and closed his eyes. 'Sorry I didn't...tell you...' He managed to choke out. 'Sorry...really.'

And he died.

'Ryuzaki?' Maki gasped, tears now welling up even faster. '_Ryuzaki!_ What-? Wake up, please! _Please!_ Don't leave me like mom did, like dad did! Don't leave us!'

I just couldn't bear watching this anymore. If it had been hard a few minutes ago, then this was simply unbearable. So I turned away, not too far away -I could still hear them- but not watching anymore. I thought we were gonna try and make it better than in the movie, for all three of them, but this was only worse. So much worse.

'They'll be fine, Iris.' Beyond said quietly. Oh, right, I had almost forgot he was here as well for a moment. 'They'll go to Watari, like Ryuzaki said, and they'll be just fine.'

'I had hoped they wouldn't see him die...' I just whispered, ignoring what he said just now. I knew they'd be alright, I knew they would... but they've seen enough in their short lives. 'Near has watched his village bein destroyed and everyone in it being killed... Maki has lost her mother long ago, and then watched her father be killed... I had just wanted for them to not see Ryuzaki die as well...' As answer, Beyond just sat down beside me and wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. 'I know...'

Was this yet another failure? If we failed to make this better than in their original story, if we hurt them more than necessary, was this a failure? Those poor kids...

* * *

**That was... sad to write. 'Cause, thing is, it didn't come out as good as I hoped, but I actually have the whole scene playing in my head now. And it's really sad.**

**But I hope you liked it, thanks for reading, and please help me kill the King! And merry Christmas~!**


	39. Changing

**I found it back! My inspiration, it's finally back~!**

**Thanks to serialkiller567, that is, after giving me so many possibilities on how to kill the Shinigami King. So thank you very much for that!**

**And finally, after quite a wait, I've managed to write a long chapter again! And also, this one will hopefully explain the whole switch from "Psycho-Beyond" to "Kind-Beyond" in The Fantasy. Finally. For one doesn't leave his past as a killer behind and starts over as a "normal" person that easily, now do they?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

It had been a long time since I started investigating the King, and his past. A very long time, and I truly hope I have not disappointed anyone because of the lack of information coming from me. But at least I could now come to them with some news, and hopefully, some good news.

_That's it!_

* * *

**~Iris' PoV~**

Well, Ryuzaki had been right when he said Maki and Near would be better off with Watari, or at least fine. They had been with him for two days now, him and the younger L. They had both been quite shocked at meeting him, but after a little explanation and some time together, it now seemed they'd actually become friends, and very good ones at that. So we had no reason to worry about them anymore, that's for sure.

The task force, along with Allen, were busy tracking down Kira once again, as they were doing before coming here, and weren't doing such bad job at all. Allen already managed to figure out that this Kira, or actually these, were working in a group and certainly not operating from Holland. Thank goodness for that, if there was a serial killer organisation in my country, I might just lose it again, and there we have the Reaper again... nah, that'd never happen, especially not now Raito was only little less than two months away.

Also, the smaller things like the whole Sayu-issue and finding the Yagami family and Aizawa's family had been solved. Oh, that's right: Aizawa was now back in Japan, but still working with the task force, just over a distance. Which also meant he could get Japanese information more easily than us, and turned out to actually be quite convenient. In fact, most small problems we had were now solved, and only three actually remained: the Shinigami King, the Kiras, and BB. Well, okay, BB wasn't really a threat now, seeing as he was still locked up and chained to a chair, his handcuffs only removed when he'd get some food or water and put back the instant he was finished. I didn't really know why they kept him here and not just sent him to a prison, really. For answering some questions they might have? I can't even think of what those may be. Or perhaps they wanted to try and "rehabilitate" him, to see if he could be as civil as Beyond. I doubt it, though I do know they were in a way the same person.

Well, today was Beyond's first meeting with his other self, and I was watching with surveillance cameras together with Matsuda and Madeline. 'You sure he'll be okay?' Madeline asked me softly, her eyes slightly worried. I just shrugged, and answered: 'He'll be just fine. One of them is an immortal Shinigami, yet pretty harmless and passive, the other is chained to a chair and the floor, still pretty weak from whatever happened to him in the time between the eclipse and the day you found him breaking in. No matter which B you meant, I'm sure he'll be just fine.' I hope... after all, though I knew Beyond really was passive and had developed a hate of fighting, meeting his other self might just trigger old habits to kick in again... and then BB'll be in trouble. Whatever he might have done, I didn't want him to get hurt or even be killed, especially not because of Beyond.

_As Beyond walked in, B didn't even bother to look up, and just snapped, 'What d'you want now?! I already said, whatever stupid questions you have, I won't answer them anyway!'_

'Looks like he's in a bad mood again...' Matsuda muttered, shaking his head slowly. 'Usually he's not that bad, really. I once actually managed to have a normal conversation with him, though only for six minutes.'

_Beyond smirked, quite amused and judging by his expression, obviously thinking something along the lines of "oh, the good old days...". Well, in a sarcastic way, that is. 'So you won't even answer anything I might ask?' He said slowly. B's head jerked up at hearing the familiar voice -his own voice- and his mouth practically dropped open when he saw Beyond standing in front of him. 'Who-? What-?' He simply didn't manage to finish any sentence he started, confused and perhaps even scared as he was. Beyond chuckeled a bit and sat down on the side of the small table in that ridiculously small room. 'Exactly, I'm you, Beyond Birthday. You, but then from another dimension, another time... and I'm a Shinigami.' When he said this, he spread his wings for a few seconds before retracting them again. When B didn't answer, even though he tried, he went on: 'In the other world, your feath date was set on November eleventh, 2009. However, if you kept on going the way you did, being a murderer and all, you'd have been killed by Kira much earlier. On January twenty-first, in 2004 already. Of course, I can see your lifespan here, and it's much longer than just seven years, as you would've lived in your original, shall we say, story. But trust me, Kira is back in this world, too, and if you don't change the way you live now, he'll kill you before you know it.'_

I blinked, surprised by his stern, yet somehow kind tone. For all I know, that's the best thing he could've said. 'Well, I bet that'll work...' ... whatever it is he's trying to do.

_'So I'll die?' B repeated, a grin now crossing his face. 'But that's exactly what I want!' But Beyond shook his head. 'No, it's not. I'm you, B, so I know that's not what you really want, nor is revenge on Naomi or L. The only thing you really want, is for someone -even if it's just one person- to tell you the one thing no one ever did: that you're normal, just like any other person. That you're not a monster, despite what you've done in the past, no matter what people may have told you for so long. That's the one thing you really want, not death, not vengeance, but acceptance from others.' Several emotions flashed over B's scarred face, before he turned away and muttered: 'But that's never gonna happen, anyway...' Just when Beyond was about to answer, B screamed, 'I mean, if not even my parents could accept me for what I was and only just decided not to dump me somewhere on the streets, how can anyone else?! Only one person could really accept that I was different, only one, and he slit his own throat! And he didn't even say "You're normal" he just said "Being different isn't that bad"!' He looked away again, teeth clenched and eyes closed, and added: 'And besides, I'm beginning to think I might be better off in some asylum, where all the other insane people are too...' _

_Beyond blinked, sharing those terrible memories and emotions with the teen in front of him, and seemed shocked because of that last part. 'Better off in an asylum?! Are you out of your mind, Beyond?! You should be glad you've never been there before, you really don't even want to know what they'd do to you there, trust me!'_

_'Like what? 'Cause actually, I do want to know.'_

_'Do you think you'll escape being called a psycho and a monster there, just because so many people in there are somewhat the same? Wrong. It only gets worse, a million times worse, until the only thought that ever crosses your mind is "I'm a monster, a scourge on society, and better off dead". Do you want that? Because that's only the beginning! You get treated like less than a dog in there! In fact, those furballs live in heaven even if they're strays, compared to what you'd go through in there! How about getting abused nearly every hour of the day? There was one time I got hit so bad by some of the guards there, even though I really didn't do a thing, I was in hospital for two weeks, having had two broken ribs, some minor damage to hip and spine, and internal bleeding.' When B didn't answer, or even react in any way, Beyond sighed and added, 'Look, I really think the people who work there are even more sick than most of their "patients", so don't ever think you'd be better off in an asylum. Now, I know that's not the case in every one, this was just a very bad asylum with the most cruel employees you can imagine, but not one of them is fun to be in, I know that for sure.'_

All three of us watching gasped after hearing this. 'I-I knew they did some terrible things to Beyond when he was in the asylum...' I stammered, utterly shocked. Madeline finished my words for me. 'But never imagined it to be that terrible...' After a minute of just staring at echother, stunned and unable to speak anymore as we tried to imagine how that must've been for him, and the other patients as well, whoever they might've been, and then silently turned back to the screen, where it had also been silent all this time.

_'But it's true...' B muttered after some time. 'It's true, I'm better off dead. I'm nothing but a nuisance to this world.' Beyond shook his head, sighed, and placed a hand on B's shoulder. 'No, you're not. Do you have any idea what great things you might achieve? Any idea what things you might do for this world? B, Beyond, you're one of the most intelligent, most creative people alive. Your puzzles, whatever you use them for, are near unsolvable, and your planning is amazing. You look ahead a thousand steps, considering every single thing that might happen.'_

_'Like L, you mean.'_

_'Yes, but with an advantage.'_

_B looked up again, eyes wide. 'Advantage...? Wh-what do you mean?'_

_Beyond smiled. 'You don't push aside your emotions. Do you know Mello and Near, L's newest successors? Near's a genius, but he's too afraid to take action and only listens to logic instead of his feelings. Mello is a genius too, but relies too much on his emotions and occasionally does things without thinking. L, too, has trouble with finding the balance between the two when cases get difficult or dangerous. But you, B, know when to follow facts, know exactly when to take action and when to remain passive. But you rely on your emotions as well. And not only that, you're a great actor as well. Just look back at what you achieved with the LABB case. No one solved your puzzle, except for L, but it took him a week. Naomi might have thought of you as suspicious, she never once realised you were the killer, until it was nearly too late. The riddles you made, the clues you left, you planned everything so well...'_

_'And screwed up.'_

_'Not at all. It was just not your death date, that's all. And you couldn't possibly have known that. But B, I understand if you don't wish to be anything like a detective, but you could use your skills for so much more, so many great things.' B once again didn't answer, and after nearly another minute of silence, Beyond just stood up and left. 'Think about it, B.' He said before disappearing through a wall._

He reappeared here, and I turned to him, unable to do anything but stare.

'Well?' He asked, smiling. 'What do you think? Will he consider changing now or what?'

'That was... perfect, Beyond.' Matsuda answered before me. 'If that won't stop him from continuing being a serial killer when -if- we release him, I don't know what else will. And also, if Ryuzaki has any more questions for him, I'm pretty sure he'll answer them. Thank you.'

I nodded. 'I think you couldn't have said better things. It's sure made him think about things.'

Just then, another Shinigami entered the room, one I never imagined to see here. Usually it was Rem or Ryuk, sometimes even Zerhogie who gave us messages from the Shinigami Realm, but never Armonia Jastin himself.

'Iris, Beyond... I think I might have found a way to kill the King.'

* * *

**Seriously, serialkiller, thank you so much for all those ideas! They were all really helpful!**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	40. Methods

**Chapter forty~!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Iris' PoV~**

My mouth just dropped open when Armonia Jastin came in, walking through a wall, then saying he finally found a way to get rid of the King. I mean, kill the Shinigami King, the king of Death Gods! Madeline... well, Madeline squealed. 'Seriously?!' She asked him, big smile on her face of the type that reminded me of our teen years. 'You're really a genius-demon, aren't you?'

'I've heard that before, yes...' Was the Shinigami's monotone and quite cocky answer. Okay, one thing I didn't like about him. His arrogance... not at all.

'Well? Spit it out already!' Beyond said, making me giggle. That must've been because he spent such a long time with his still-psycho self.

Armonia Jastin blinked at him once, his gem-eyes completely emotionless asode from a slightly irritated light in them. Yeah, believe it or not, those gems could show emotions, though they didn't seem to do so often. 'Why, I'm beginning to think I liked you better when you were half dead.' He muttered in response, before finally starting his explanation. 'Well, I eh... truthfully, I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier, but perhaps because of the risks-'

'Risks?' I interrupted him, clinging to Beyond's arm. 'Oh no, no risks! Let someone else do it!' Beyond just sighed. 'There come the hormones again... watch out for sudden moodswings, they're dangerous in her case. No, Iris, that's the whole point,' He added then. '_I_ have to do it, remember?'

'If there are risks, you won't!' I protested. But of course, they had all stopped paying attention to me already, like usuall. So I just huffed, agitated (yup, the moodswing he was talking about) and went on listening.

Armonia looked at me for a moment, somewhat confused, then shook his head and muttered: 'And I thought female Shinigami were bad enough...' I just glared at him in a way to say "just hurry up, fuckhead", and thank goodness he got the message. Or maybe he didn't, and just decided on his own to finally tell us how to kill the king and save Beyond's (after)life. And that instantly made me think of the song _How to Save a Life_. Amused, I just smiled absently, not bothering to pay attention to them anymore, since it was useless anyway. Oh, and then came _Hurricane_, by 30 Sceonds to Mars, which I really used to love years ago. _Tell me would you kill, to save a life... Tell me would you kill, to prove you're right..._

Hee hee~!

* * *

**~Beyond's PoV~**

I gave Iris one last glance, then turned to Armonia Jastin, who seemed rather scared by her now. 'It's normal for her these days,' I said, letting out another sigh. I had practically given up hope that she'd ever be herself again. If she wasn't losing her mind because of the combination pregnancy-hormones/ADD, then she'd be purring to Raito and talking all high-pitched once he was born. Yet, I think that would be better than this. 'Please, just explain how to kill the old man.'

'R-right... I feel kinda bad for you, by the way, being stuck with... _that_.' He shook his head, and finally, _finally_ started. 'You see, the way the King kills is simply by using a Death Note, a rather unique one. That one, you see, can not only kill humans, but isn't restricted to following the rules other Notes have, and can even kill Shinigami. Now, the risky part is stealing it from him.'

'Are you crazy?!' I exclaimed. Oh no, I was not gonna do that! Steal from the Shinigami King? If I got caught, he'd kill me instantly! Then again, this was probably the only option we had, which means I'd have to... just perfect. 'S-sorry. Just... continue, please.'

'Right. Stealing is the most risky thing, though honestly, the King isn't really that alert all the time. But Nu... the problem is, Nu is still on his side, literally. Get the problem?' Oh yes, that one's not too hard to understand. Nu was constantly by his side these days, after hearing rumors about a riot, a revolution or whatever you want to call it. And she has eyes everywhere, literally. No, in fact, she _was_ eyes, nothing more. A whole body full of eyes... no way she wouldn't notice! So I just nodded, and he went on, 'Well, we'll find a way to distract both Nu and the King, so you'll have the chance to do so. My guess is, we'll probably get the whole group over there, declare a war, start a fight and then you'll come along, take the notebook and write him down... something like that. Honestly, I don't care _how_ so long as you just make sure you'll succeed. So good luck with that, I'll be going again. Your human is beginning to creep me out...' i truly have no idea how he could still move, let alone fly, for he looked like real solid gold, even his wings... but hey, Shinigami are weird creatures.

'Well, that's gonna turn out great, you'll see...' I sighed sarcastically. 'Just great, Jastin, really. Go and tell me to steal from the King, write his name down but no, why give a damn about how I'm supposed to do that? Well, the declaring war thing might work... but still!'

Madeline patted me on the shoulder, smirking. 'Oh, don't worry, you'll manage. From what I've heard, the King must be real stupid.' With a wink, she added, 'And besides, if you succeed, you'll need a new King in the Realm, and who'd be better for the job than the one and only Shinigami that ever killed their King?'

What, me? Me, becoming the Shinigami King? Hell no. And besides, I'd have to be stuck in the Realm for an eternity, so no, thank you very much. At the sound of hyoer giggling coming from Iris, who sat on the couch now, staring at nothing and laughing her ass of, we both shook our heads, both amused and annoyed.

Raito, I know it's still one and a half month, but please, either hurry up or stop doing this to us...

And now I get to kill the King soon, as well... perfect.

* * *

**Er, sorry this chapter was short again... there will be some longer ones soon, I'll leave it up to you to guess what'll happen in them... yup.**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	41. I didn't mean it!

**Hm, three chapters in three days... I guess my head is finally working again!**

**Maybe it's just school. School, and all the things going on there... do you know those times, two weeks before a vacation, when all teachers feel like they have to give you tests almost every day? I hate it...**

**Oh well... I probably won't get to upload a new chapter tomorrow, so I'll just say this now... happy new year~!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Beyond's PoV~**

Iris and I were at Johanna's house now, who had been nagging her daughter for a visit for two weeks straight now. Well, apparently you gotta keep your parents happy or they'll become like beasts... never knew that.

Anyway, those two were talking. And talking. And talking some more. That's the one part of women I'll never understand, all females actually, regardless of age. They can all keep talking for hours, sometimes about important and/or interesting things, but sometimes their conversations were simply about nothing. So I decided to be oh so social and drift somewhere in mid-air in her backyard, thinking about how the hell Armonia Jastin could've imagined me being able to steal his notebook and remain unseen by both him and Nu. Neither of them cared, they just kept on talking, though I guessed Iris was getting sick of it by now as well.

But seriously, I might have been able to sneak into someone's house, wether it was shrouded in the shadows of the night or simply in broad daylight, unnoticed by whoever's inside or just passing by, knife and drug in my pockets, sometimes a rope, some jars full of strawberry jam, then kill someone, place a few puzzles, clean the whole place, change my victim's clothes and leave without ever getting caught...

Ah hell, what am I whining about, I could do all that and more when I was human, then I must be able to do at least twice as much as that now that I'm a Shinigami!... Right? Well, yes, getting past something that's practically one big eye is hard, but still. I used to be one of the best murderers around, certainly I can steal a notebook? Really, if someone asked me to go to Washington or something, assassinate the president of the US, I'm pretty sure I could've done it without anyone noticing until hours after I was gone, but oh no for them, there are no traces of the killer anywhere! That's just not how I worked, that's all.

Yes, and the others will all be busy distracting the King and Nu, and then I'll sneak up behind them, grab the thing and make a dash for it, all I have to do then is write him down and-

-what the heck is his name?! Oh yeah, real nice Jastin, tell me to do all that and whatnot, but have you forgotten I cannot see his name? No one can, Shinigami or not! And I hardly think it'll work if I write "Shinigami King" in the notebook, that's a title not a name.

Or is it? Ah, ridiculous! No one has a name like that, not even Shinigami! No, we have things like Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason, Dalil Ghiroza, Rem, Gook, Callikarcha, Nu... names like that. Humans have fairly normal names, though there are exceptions. Yeah, like Beyond Birthday, L Lawliet, Quarter Queen, Backyard Bottomslash... Those are plain weird. I mean, things like a Birthday, a Backyard or a Queen? Or a single letter, like L. Yeah, we had such great parents... I bet they were all drunk or high, or both.

Then again, I used to have another name... simply turned out that this was my true name, you know...

Since this was only gonna give me a headache, I just let myself fall on my back on the grass -maybe a little too hard- and went inside. Through a wall, that is. It still creeped Johanna out, and that was exactly what I was aiming for. I mean, who doesn't love scaring your partners parents, really? And then when they complain to their daughters (or sons, depends) that they shouldn't be with you anymore because you're such a creep, you get to go all like "stop whining, bitch, you can't do anything about it, anyway!". And for me, it's even more fun, being a Death God and all... "Oh, shut the hell up or I'll kill you. Just give me a pen and I'll prove it". It's just... Iris doesn't always aprove of it, but sometimes I just don't care at all. Like now!

So I came in through that wall, and the very first thing I heard was 'Beyond!' coming from Johanna. I smirked, not even bothering to look at her, and said, 'I'll walk through walls and fly around in your garden for an eternity of you don't stop complaining about it, you know.' I know, I know, pathetic way to freak someone out, but me being me, it worked, especially on her. It's just different when it's being said by something that looks only partially human, something with claws, fangs, red eyes and strange markings... and wings, for that matter.

'That's not what I was going to say,' She sounded quite stressed, so I turned around to see what was causing that. Iris was practically curled up, trembling and with teeth clenched. First thing I thought: _She's in pain, right?_ The second: _Holy crap! Raito, when I said "hurry up a bit", three days ago, I didn't mean it like this!_

And what happened from there, I only got half of it all. I sat down beside Iris, trying to calm her a bit, while Johanna called Cornelis since she didn't have a car herself. He was here in about seven minutes, raced to a hospital with his daughter, and we arrived there... twenty minutes later, I guess? That's the moment I started loving the fact no one could see me. No, Iris and her parents were all being stared at -I felt bad for them, though neither of the three seemed to care. Cornelis and Johanna were too busy worrying about Iris, while she was too busy with labour- and no one that noticed me. I always hated being stared at, especially now. I mean, obviously I have better things to do right now. Like, being with Iris, being there when Raito is born...

I just sat down beside her, and the first thing she said: 'He's over a month early...'

'You'll both be fine, though.' I answered, trying to sound reassuring. I really hope I succeeded a bit in that... 'A little premature or not, he has a long lifespan, so he'll be fine. And yours is still the same as always, long as well. You've seen it yourself, right? No need to worry. This'll be over soon, and then we'll finally have Raito with us. Just try thinking about that, okay? Don't you worry, your parents are doing that enough for all of us together already.' She smiled, but that smile soon disappeared when she had yet another contraction. I didn't even want to guess how much such things hurt...

And all that time, I could really think only one single thing:

_Seriously, Raito... I didn't mean it!_

* * *

**I actually planned to do this one a lot sooner, but that wouldn't have made much sense... and I don't really like having to write with constant time-gaps of more than perhaps a few weeks.**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	42. Welcome

**Coyote-stark... you really thought I'd kill one of my main characters like that?... well, okay, I've done so before... but still, I won't kill Iris or Madeline, never!**

**And uh... happy new year, everyone!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Iris' PoV~**

_'This'll be over soon enough_', he said. _Soon enough, huh?_ Yes, that's what Beyond had told me when this awful hell started. Soon enough, yes. Sure.

But at least it was worth it, completely and utterly worth it. But one thing's for sure: never again. I will never go through this again. Ever. But worth it? Like I said, totally. I thought it would be a problem if he was almost six weeks too early, but no, Raito was completely healthy and a good weight as well. He had just had his first meal, and was now fast asleep. My god, something I'd have to get used to: the feeling of being sucked on. Strange, not uncomfortable, but just extremely... strange, my only explanation for it. But whatever, I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough.

Managing to look away from my newborn, little son, I blinked at Beyond, who sat beside us. 'You think over seventeen hours of hard work like that can be called "soon enough"?' He laughed and shrugged. 'Well, could've been longer, right? You once told me your mother took three days to get born, after all.'

'Four.'

'Well, that's even worse. So I'd say seventeen hours isn't that bad, considering what it could've been. For all I know, that average!' He answered. I just smiled and shook my head, amused. Yeah, typical Beyond, always looking at the bright side. "Is it that bad? Well, look at this, this is even worse. So be glad that wasn't you!". 'Well, Beyond, can you take over for me? I'm already exhausted, and watching him sleep like that only makes it worse.' As though to prove this, I broke off in a yawn. Oh no, once is good enough for me. No more births for me, too much work, hurts too much, way too exhausting. Smiling, Beyond carefully picked Raito up and held him in his arms, saying, 'What, do you really think you even need to ask?'

With half closed eyes, I looked at the two of them, waiting to faal asleep myself. I'll admit, I've never been good at finding similarities between a baby's face and that of an adult, but I think he'd look more like me than Beyond. What a pity, he would've been better off with his father's face, in my opinion. It still had a healthy pinkish tint, but I guess he'd have the same pale skin as Beyond, though. Not that mine was that much darker, no I was pale as well, considered almost completely white by some people (which wasn't far from the truth on my worst moments), but when they'd see Beyond... had his hair not been black and his whole skin not criss-crossed in orange-tinted, tattoo-like markings, he'd have been able to lie down in snow and be perfectly camouflaged. Well, with white clothes and either coloured contacts or his eyes closed, that is, obviously. Oh, and the little tuft of hair Raito had was raven-black already, so that would be like his dad, too. I wonder what his eyes would look like... in the hour he's lived now, he hasn't opened them yet, or at least I hadn't seen it if he did. I hope not red... though there's nothing wrong with red eyes (Beyond is the perfect example of how red eyes can make someone look even better than they did) but... other people usually don't think the same way I do.

'You know,' I mumbled sleepily, letting out yet another yawn. 'This must look real weird to other people here, you holding our little Raito... to them, he's a floating baby.' Beyond chuckeled, and whispered, 'Just go to sleep, Iris. You deserve it.' With a smirk, he added, 'And besides, if you keep talking, you might wake him up.'

Yet another yawn, but that was also the last thing before I gratefully drifted into sleep, happier than I could remember to have ever been.

* * *

**~Beyond's PoV~**

Well, it sure was quiet now. A sleeping Iris on the bed in front of me, a sleeping Raito in my arms. Had it still been able to, I guess my heart would've pounded right out of my chest, happy as I was. All the emotions I felt as I looked at Raito were unexplainable, and so strong I thought it was a dream, for it's been such along time since I've felt anything like this, if I ever had. Before something like this happens, you think something along the lines of "if I try hard enough, I think I might be able to imagine what it's like", but you can't. No, this is something one cannot imagine until they've experienced it themselves. Years ago, after I escaped prison, I promised myself never to kill any human again, but now I could only think, if it were for Raito, I would. If I had to kill to save him if he's ever in trouble, I would do so without hesitating. I'd do almost anything.

And the _pride_, my god, I had thought it wasn't even possible to be this proud of anything or anyone. And that while he's only little more than an hour old, and hasn't done anything but cry for two minutes, suckle a little and then sleep yet. I really wonder what it'd be like when he's a little older, starts talking, learns to walk, and years later he'd go to school and all...

Man, I probably shouldn't be thinking years into the future now and enjoy present with him still being this little, but that was just something I couldn't really stop. Ot just came, and I couldn't suppress it.

And even though he was almost six weeks premature, he was completely healthy, and even though he was very small, for a baby of that size he had a healthy weight as well. Of course I had been trying to reassure Iris all the time, but I had also been worried that he'd be too tiny, too light and too fagile, and that he'd have to spend his first days of life in a hospital. But no, he was healthy and strong enough to go home already. So once Iris has had some time to rest, we'd go back home with him. Luckily, we had a spare room, though it was a little small. It had been Iris' intention to make it some sort of stack-room. Just to have a spot for all our books (with her around, you've got to have close to a personal library, but I didn't mind. After all, who didn't like a good book from time to time?) and other stuff, but the moment I told her about her "extra pair of lifespan" (and after the shock of that faded a bit), she threw everything right back out of it and started looking for proper places to keep them, ready to use that room as a nursery.

There was only one thing that worried me. Iris hadn't thought about it yet, I think, otherwise she'd have been stressed out yet again. But since I was able to touch Raito, that'd mean he'd also be able to see and hear me, even before he ever touched a piece of the Death Note. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty certain that he, too, is part Shinigami. Now, of course that isn't really surprising, considering his parents, but there was a good chance he'd have Shinigami Eyes.

'Beyond Birthday,' A voice suddenly came, sounding quite familiar and making my blood run cold. That was... I turned my head, my eyes falling on Dalil Ghiroza. Dalil, one of the few Shinigami I had considered killing only due to my hate for her. What was she doing here, and why now?

'What do you want?!' I hissed at her, careful enough to keep my voice down. When she took a step closer, I quite instinctively bared my fangs, not even thinking about it, and hissed again. Shinigami do that stuff sometimes, you know. 'Back off! Just go!'

'Beyond?' That was Johanna's voice. Of course, they were here too. Quickly and carefully, and very much reluctant as well, I handed Raito to her and left the room, knowing Dalil would follow me. So once we were alone, or in some other room, that is (no one could see or hear us, anyway) I just stared at her demandingly. 'So what is it you're doing here, huh?'

She blinked at me once, then asnwered with a slightly accented voice, 'I wish to join the revolution, the battle against the King.'

...okay, hadn't expected that one. Then again, she could be lying. But the other Shinigami seemed to guess my thoughts and said, 'You know it's true. What other bussiness would I have here? Kill the human, kill the kid? No, Beyond, I cannot kill anyone who owns a Death Note back in the Realm, and if I came here with the intention to write them down, I'd fail anyway.'

'But still, you're in the wrong place, wrong demon.' I retorted, looking away. Was I that easy to read? 'I'm not the leader of this "revolution". And besides, you don't have to ask, you just do it, alright?'

There was a moment of silence before she answered. 'I know that, and I already have. But I just came to tell you, since we appeared to -no, _were_ against you. Just know that we're on your side now.'

'We? Who else?'

'Callikarcha and Gook. They too have turned against the King, like many others have by now.' I didn't answer at all, and refused to look at her still, too. Damn, if there were three Shinigami I hoped to be able to get rid of along with that damned King... Since I remained silent, Dalil just spoke again. 'Beyond, you know having us'll be helpful. No, having _me_'ll be, Cal and Gook are useless anyway. But Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason, Rem and I... besides Nu and the King himself, we are the highest in rank. Not only that, but as you know, I am also one of the oldest Shinigami in the Realm...' She leaned in closer now, facing me, a strange light shining in her dark eyes. 'And I know the King's real name.'

I froze and could not do anything but stare at her in astonishment. 'T-tell me!'

She smiled and shook her head, spreading her large wings, about to take off and leave again. 'Not yet. But I will soon. For now, do not worry about the day you'll kill the King. It will be soon, but you'll be ready, we'll make that sure. Now, just go to your human, and your son. We'll handle things.'

I stared after her, then went back down through the ceiling and back to Raito, as she had suggested doing. Well, that's one side of Dalil Ghiroza I had never dreamed existed...

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**You know, it's pretty hard writing things if you have no idea what it's like... which is probably why some things I write are so unrealistic. I was just thinking about that yesterday, when I wrote this... it's just weird. I guess most of you will get what I mean, right?**

**Oh, and title explanation (if even needed XD) "welcome" to life for Raito, and "welcome" to the team for those three Shinigami. That's it.**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	43. Which One

**Hi again! Yeesh, I got quite a few reviews on the last chapter, thank you! Together with some reactions on some of my videos on Youtube, it caused my inbox to be quite full, so it really made me happy!**

**And I tried a new PoV in this chappy. Hope it's not too OOC (probably is XD)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Misa's PoV~**

Watching surveillance tapes... and watching more of them. And some more. My Light-kun had told me and Teru and Kyo to watch surveillance tapes and watch the news of places all over the world, hacking into things to get to the recordings and watch them all. He was almost going insane over that other Death Note, how it had to be somewhere and how he wanted -needed- to use it for himself or destroy it in order to create a new world. Any Death Note owner that isn't Kira must give up ownership of their notes and die, he says. Well, he's my Light-kun, so I'm sure he's right. But I felt like those men who worked with that Ryuzaki-guy, while I was under surveillance myself a few years ago. Constantly watching a screen, looking at people and trying to find that one person with no lifespan, who could really be anyone and anywhere. It's like the three of us were slaves, really. And all Light does, all three of him, is writing names of criminals in his/their notebooks.

I sighed as I hacked into yet another system. I didn't even check which one it was, really. 'Kyo-kun, have you found anything yet?' Kyo let out an annoyed sigh, and muttered. 'No. And Misa, the name's Higuchi, got it? You may call me Kyosuke if you want, but _not_ Kyo.' Teru chuckeled, and I looked at him instead, not even bothering to repeat the question, since he'd know what I was about to say, anyway. In response, he just shook his head. great, so we've spent what, a week or so doing this and for what? No results? Okay, checking surveillance thingies from one big city may already be a lot, and some people might complain about that already, but look at us: checking the whole world with just the three of us.

'I know that, Misa-san.' Teru said calmly. Oh, had I spoken out loud? Hee hee, hadn;t even noticed that! 'But this is what god tells us to do. I'd do this on my own if it is what he asks of me. He is our god, Misa, even though it's hard, we'll succeed. Otherwise he wouldn't ask this of us. Now go back to work, Misa-san.'

And so I did. I knew, the only reason Light-kun told us to do this while not contributing anything himself was because the three of us all had Shinigami Eyes, and he didn't. Still, I had hoped he'd help a bit more than just by teaching me how to hack.

'Well,' Kyo said after a little while. 'We could just go through countries' databases, photos of their citizens... might be quicker, right?' Teru let a weird, almost creepy smile cross his face and took his glasses off. 'That, Higuchi-san, is perhaps the best idea I've ever heard coming from you.'

'So, which countries should we start with?' I asked them, seeing as my opinion was worth next to nothing with these two, so complaining or anything would be worthless anyway.

'We could start with Europe, west to east. One country each, moving to the east, then going through Asia, then North-America, South-America, Africa, and last is Australia. How 'bout that?' Well, Kyo's idea _was_ a good one, I'll admit. And besides, chances are we wouldn't even have to go through everything he mentioned. Asia and America are good candidates on housing another Note-owner, in my opinion. We might be done in two or three weeks, instead of months. And then, Light-kun would be so happy... Anything to make my Light happy!

'So, Higuchi-san, could you start with Iceland, then? I'll go through Ireland and the UK.' Teru broke through my thoughts. 'And Misa-san, you may choose: Norway or the Netherlands.'

'Aw, they both start with N!' I pouted for no reason at all. 'I want an M-country, for Misa, or L for Light~!'

'L is the enemy, Misa.'

'But Light isn't!' I protested. Gosh, we don't even know what L looks like, or what his name could be like... yet they say he's the enemy and all and that we should kill him. We could've just ran into him on the streets or something without knowing. I don't care about L, to me, L stands for Light, not the stupid detective-person!

Both Teru and Kyo sighed, rolling their eyes. 'Fine, Misa-san. Holland it is for you, then.'

'Holland?' Uh... what was that again? I thought I had to choose between-

'The_ Netherlands!_ Now get to work, and hurry up a bit.' Oh. Alrighty then! Everything for Light-kun!

And so we continued our search. Hacking into the database wasn't as hard as I thought, and Kyo had been right: it was so much easier, having all the pictures lined up, name under them, and you could just click on one to see the whole file. Great, isn't it? But you know, all these Dutch people have such weird names! Stuff like "Henk", "Jan", "Willem"... those are all male names, and apparently typically Dutch names. The women have more common names, ones you can find in other countries easily as well. I think. Like this one, "Laura", or "Marianne". But still, there were funny names as well. Unusual as hell, that's for sure. But I guess they're normal in there. "Veerle", for example. I wonder how that's pronounced?... I guess something like "V-e-r-leh"? (it's pronounced as V-ee (as in, I don't know, 'beer'?)-r-luh. I don't know if you find names like that anywhere else much XD)

Hell, I don't care how it's pronouned, it's funny to read! and foreigners like them look funny, too. I wonder how the Irish and British people look, the ones Teru is look at? I leaned over to his computer, careful so he wouldn't notice, but got only a quick glance at the pictures before he said, 'Misa-san, inspect your own people, not mine or Higuchi-san's.' I pouted and turned back to my own screen, muttering a bit. I had wanted to see the people fro Iceland, too! But alright, these people were funny, too. I was a blonde, I know, but I had to dye my hair to be one. And you sure as hell don't find much natural blondes in Japan, but in here? My god... so many of them! I guess that's almost standard for them or something? Blond hair, blue eyes, not too pale skin (though some broke that rule) but not tan, either. Most of those people looked somewhat like that, and though it was interesting at first, it soon got boring. When you're into fashion as I am, you tend to look at how foreigners look, what their sense of "fashion" is, and find it all interesting. But after about two million people, you get bored, anyway. I had spent three hours looking at them already, you know.

I had them in order of city they lived in, and was only just past "E". It would take a while...

Watching photos... watching photos... bathroom break... watching photos... dinner... watching photos... hours and hours after eachother. It was just the same as the surveillance camera-thing. Hw had Light-kun even come up with that? Kyo's idea was, though so far not with another outcome, much better. _Sorry, my Light-kun!_

* * *

Day two of watching photos! A good night's sleep, and you're really ready to go back to work! Oh, isn't sleep and a comfy bed just a miraculous combination? ...I wish Light had been there... but whatever, I get to help Light-kun again today! And Today, I would probably be through my current country, and then I'd start the next one: Belgium. Teru would do France (which I had wanted!) and Kyo's stuck with Norway. Next, I get to do Spain, Teru'll do Germany, and Kyo's again stuck with one of the northern countries.

Yup, for the Netherlands, or Holland, or whatever you call it, it's ten million down, six million to go! I was now at the "R" section of city's names (there hadn't even been one for Q! Yippee!), and there I go!

It was only little while before I gasped, squealed and pointed at my screen, bouncing up and down. 'Teru-Teru! Kyo-kun! Found her, found her!' They were beside me in an instant, eyes on the screen. 'B-but Misa-san,' Kyo gasped, to which Teru added, 'there's two of them!' I stopped my bouncing and looked at the pictures once more. They were right! I had been focused on the first one, a girl called Madeline Greene, but there was a second. Iris den Weerden. 'How-? I though there was only one more Death Note in this world..?' But neither of them had a visible lifespan, so they must both own one! 'Co-ownership, maybe?' I tried.

Kyo shook his head. 'Is that even possible?'

'I don't think it is...' Teru answered, clicking one of the files. 'But anyway, god told us to get our hands on the Note, any means necessary. So let's just try find out which of these girls is in the best position to get their Notes stolen, shall we?' He clicked the files, first that of Madeline Greene, and Kyo wrote down the most important data. Her name, age, adress... She was twenty-two, had a twin brother and an older sister, both of which didn't live in the same city. Part-time job, not too big a house... quite a simple person, if you may call it that. I had already hoped for the Death Note owner to not be some rich person with a good security system and such, or guards around the house... we were good, but not _that_ good. Then this Iris girl. She was the same age as Madeline, also small house, a brother in another city, two stepsister in the same city as her... both her parents still alive and a stepmother... also a part-time job. Or maybe it was full-time? Nah, probably not. I mean, who works full-time in a _library_? Stupid. And besides all that... oh? She had a son, Raito Ryuzaki den weerden.

My heart skipped a beat. _Ryuzaki?! That's no Dutch name... it's.. Ryuzaki..._ That weird pervert-guy that was once chained to Light-kun. And speaking of Light-kun..._ Raito._ It's almost as if this boy was named after both of them! There was no picture of him here yet, so I think he must still be young... oh, there it is. Birthdate: October fourht, 2021. Aw, he was only a week old! That's so cute...

'So,' Teru said, looking at the notes Kyo had made once we had our lunch break. 'Which of them should we go after first?' Yes, which one... Madeline, or Iris?

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**Hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	44. Slaves of Juiciness

**Oh god, I had hoped to keep the longer chapters up a bit longer than this... but since we're getting closer to the climax of the two remaining things (Kira and the King...), I thinkthat once I actually have an idea of how it should go, they'll get longer than this short stuff!**

**Three PoVs in one chapter... I've never done that before, I guess! And not only that, I have two new ones (though one of them only gets a few sentences...)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Misa's PoV~**

'Well?' Light demanded, his gaze traveling from Teru to me and then Kyo, and back again. 'Excelent job on locating them, really, but have you already decided whose Note to get first? After all, since there is only one more Note in existense besides ours, and there are two people who own one...' He then turned to Nu, who was watching from a corner. 'You're the highest in rank in the Realm, I assume you would know. Is co-ownership of a Death Note possible?' Dozens of eyes blinked at the same time. How was that even possible, actually? Did the Shinigami have some skin after all, or what? Whatever. 'Not that I know of.' She answered quietly. 'Humans with Notes can work together, but co-owning one? No, I have never heard of such a thing.' With not a word more, she left, probably back to her King, where she apparently always was when not with us.

'Well, not even _that_ Shinigami could tell us...' Light-kun seemed pretty annoyed. Yikes...

'We have not yet decided who we should go after first, god,' Teru said in an easing tone, as if to calm Light a bit, even though my Light-kun looked calmer than any of us ever could. All of us knew that deep down, he was a ticking time bomb. 'But we considered various options, and the best would be for me to go to that city together with Ryuk, and inspect the both of them a bit further. The one with the Note easiest to get will be our target.'

'Yes, good idea. When do you think you can leave?' Somehow, that question felt like the polite version of "get the hell out"... Really, this isn't the Light-kun I knew, he's... changed.

'I can get on a plane tomorrow morning already, god.' _Stop calling him god!_ I wanted to shout. _He's just Light! Just Light!_ Where that came from? I have no idea...

**~Mikami's PoV~**

_-A week later-_

'Ryuk, this is it,' I said to the Shinigami following me like a shadow. 'Iris' house. Now, go inside and search for that Note, got it? Once you've found it, tell me where it is. After that, we'll go to Madeline and repeat the thing. You know what the reward is,' I added when I saw his reluctant expression, sticking my hand in my coat pocket. Thank goodness it was a big one, otherwise that apple wouldn't have fit in. He instantly looked more willing, but there was still something a bit off about him. 'I get it, Mikami, but-'

'No "but", Ryuk! Just get it over with already!'

'Whatever you say...'

**~Ryuk's PoV~**

And thus I just had to go through that wall and inside the now familiar house. I had been here plenty of times to tell Iris and Beyond about the progress in the Realm and our revolution. They'd see me for sure in here, and so would Madeline. Don't ask me how, but certain humans saw us without ever having touched the notebooks. Actually, maybe I do know... weren't those the people from the other world? To us Shinigami, there isn't much difference between this world and the one that's now lost, but still. Madeline has lived there, she's as much part of it as Iris was, being half Shinigami and all. It's only natural.

When I came in, all three inhabitants of this place were sitting on the couch, though one of them didn't sit by himself. No, that kid was too young to even sit normally, so he was held. But y'know what I mean, right? One glance at his name made me hold back a fit of _hyuks_ once again. _Raito Ryuzaki __Birthday__. _By all apples on earth, that boy's official name was an alias! Den Weerden my ass.

I tried to sneak past them, I was behind them anyway, but holy juiciness, I'm beginning to think Beyond had some "Shinigami Sensor" built in or something. Wait, do those exist? Would be cool...

'Ryuk? What're you doing here?' He asked, turning around and jumping/flying over the back of that couch. There was that strange light in his eyes... 'Some news about the upcoming... well, you know...?'

I blinked at him, then shook my head quickly. 'No! No news at all, sorry!'

'Then what are you here for? You're not really the type for friendly visits...'

Then I got an idea. What, do you think I'm one bunch of lazyness and stupidity? That's just one side of me. I just spread my wings and went up through the ceiling after answering, 'You're right, sorry. I'm going again, so see ya!' Oh, he'd never suspect me of snooping through their stuff in search of his precious Death Note. She needed it to stay with him, and he needed it to survive. They can go without it...

First I searched Iris' room, and looky that, I was right on my first guess! Only problem is, I had to stick my head through the closet, a fake back, and in there was a seemingly steel safe. Two layers. One with a key, the other needed a code. They're never gonna get this one.

'Leaving, hm?' Beyond's voice behind me startled me, and thank the aplle god my body was currently dematerialised, that would've been a nasty bump instead... enough to actually hurt me. He was staring straight at me, glaring but also a bit of an amused gleam in his scarlet eyes. 'That's not what I'd call "leaving", Ryuk. What were you doing there, sticking your head into that closet?'

I went through all sorts of options I could choose from now in my head, and chose what I thought was best: get the hell out of here.

Once outside, Mikami grinned at me. 'Well, Ryuk? Where is it?'

'Behind layers of wood and steel, you're not gonna get it.' My eyes instantly traveled to his pocket, where I knew my apple was. And he gave it to me~! But I only just finished the core before he dragged me over to the next place. Madeline's place.

So long as I get another apple, that's fine with me!

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**At first, I really wanted to make this chapter longer, but I didn't know where to end it other than here XD**

**Well, I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading again~!**


	45. Plan B(eyond)

**I have two new chapters for today, but the second will be uploaded a bit later!**

**Oh, and I managed to get my mom to watch Death Note yesterday. I told her "a few minutes would do, then I have already managed the impossible. I'll be happy" but guess what? She watched the whole first episode! Not that she liked it though...**

**And I always thought it was impossible to get your parents to watch anime... :)**

**disclaimer:I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Misa's PoV~**

The moment I came back in the main room after my break, I saw Light was on the phone, probably with Mikami, and decided to remain quiet and sit down beside one of the other Lights and Kyo. 'I see,' Light muttered. He sounded far from pleased. 'Good job, though.. Yes, plan B would be best now. I expect you back here in two days at most, can you make that?... Good.' With not a word more, he hung up and turned to the three of us, sitting here. The only one who seemed to understand what "plan B" meant was the other Light, who was smirking.

'Okay, everyone, here's the situation,' Light-kun began. 'Mikami has been able to locate both Death Notes. The one in Iris den Weerden's possession is mostly unreachable to us, and it would be near impossible to berak the safe it is in open without getting noticed by anyone. As expected, she has a Shinigami as well, according to Ryuk. Now, the Note in Madeline Greene's possession was pretty exposed compared to the other, and easy to get. But after a short inspection, Mikami has confirmed that this notebook is a fake. He has even cut a page out to write a name on, and nothing happened. How it is possible that Madeline's lifespan is invisible, is yet unknown. So in order to get our hands on Iris' notebook, we have decided to proceed to another plan: pressure her to give it up.'

'How?' I couldn't help but ask, curiosity taking over. Curiosity and anxity, and slight fear over what he was planning.

But Light avoided the question, and finished by saying, 'Mikami will be back here in two days' time, so please, Yagami,' That's how he always adressed the younger Light, or the other, odd-looking one. 'Start making preparations for it.' The teen-Light nodded. 'Yes, Kira.' And went off.

'Preparations for what?' I demanded, standing up from the couch and glaring at Light. He was getting more secretive with the minute, and I hated how he only discussed things like this with his other selves, and somtimes Mikami. Me and Kyo? Not in a million years would he consider listening to our opinions and ideas! Especially not mine, no "Higuchi is useful every now and then", that's what he said once.

Light turned and looked at me, his gaze like ice. 'You'll see. Until then, Misa, Higuchi, you two are free of any work. Enjoy it while you can.'

I stared after him as he left, hands folded into fists. I was beginning to realise more and more in the past few days, that the only reason I stayed here was because he'd kill me if I left. I didn't love him, not anymore. I had loved Light with all my heart, but this wasn't Light at all. This was Kira. And yes, I had been grateful to Kira for killing the murderer of my parents, but now that I saw what a person he really was, instead of the hero I had thought him to be...

No.

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**~Beyond's PoV~**

'Just remember, if anything goes wrong, we've got your back.' That was hardly reassuring, seeing as, if I failed, we'd all be killed. And he knew that, I could hear it in his voice, that he wasn't as certain of my succeeding as he seemed to be only moments ago, when the ice-cold breath of our King wasn't chilling us to the bone. Or the core. Or whatever you call it with certain Shinigami.

But the bright side was, that Armonia Jastin had figured out that this Shinigami-killing notebook was the only one in the King's possession, perhaps the only one in existence, and if I indeed managed to steal it now, we could kill the King any moment we wanted without having to worry about getting killed ourselves.

I was so nervous, I was shaking. Not because of the cold.

'Who will take over for him, once he's dead?' I asked, whispering.

'That seems obvious, right?' Was Armonia Jastin's half-amused answer.

I knew all too well who he meant, but didn't even want to think about it. Me, the Shinigami King? Forget it, I'll never take on a role like that. I mean, I still have Iris and Raito, how can I leave them to go rule over the Death Gods? To me, the choice was an obvious one as well, only I wasn't sure if the others would agree to it. In my eyes, there was only one Shinigami truly capable of leading us all. And under his guidance, perhaps the Realm itself would even change. Because, was gold not often asociated with warmth? And the gems could only mean prosperity, a rich land. Perhaps there'd be a time in which Ryuk wouldn't have to go to the human world for his apples, because the ones here were no longer rotten, but instead just as juicy and tasty as in my world. Yes, whatever happened, I would always think of the human world as my home. This barren wasteland, whatever hidden beauty it might secretly possess, however much that beauty might come to life in the future, this wasn't where I belonged. Another reason why I thought it was Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason who should become the next King, and not me.

I let my eyes travel over the other demons here one more time. Armonia Jastin, Rem, Dalil Ghiroza, Sidoh, Gook, Calikarcha, Deridovely... so many were on my side, backing me up in this. I couldn't let them down now. Failure wasn't an option anymore. I _had_ to succeed, for them.

_Just remember what you trained for, all those years ago. In another life._ My past as a murderer/burglar/pickpocket and whatever more I had done to survive on the streets came in extremely handy now. I had always been good at sneaking, silent as slowly falling snow and as undetected as a shadow in the darkness, and after a bit of practice, I had figured that as a Shinigami, I was even better. My soft human-skin I still had was also highly useful, seeing as, if for example Rem or Dalil or Gook would try this, their bone-like structure would make too much sound on the loose stones that lay here, and the sand. Armonia Jastin's gold would be easily detected, seeing as it reflected any light that may come in here, impossible as it may sound. Not to mention the noise it would make. Sidoh and Calikarcha were jus too clumsy besides the risk of being heard easily.

I looked at Rem, who stood only few inches behind me. 'Are you sure Nu will leave soon?' She nodded. 'Very sure. I've not gone to spy on Kira's actions for nothing. She goes there once every three days, and stays for twenty-four hours before she returns to the King. It's been nearly seventy-two hours since she last left, so she's due to go there within minutes now.' If she was right, it was a great relief. Just the King wasn't even half as threatening as the one Shinigami we tended to call his "Queen" lately, now that she indeed hardly left his side after hearing rumors of our plans.

And so we waited for a few more minutes, and yes, Rem had been right. Nu flew off, and disappeared in the distance. 'Ready?' Dalil asked with her accented voice. Hearing her now no longer triggered hate to boil up in me, instead, I had grown to trust her. Her, as well as everyone else here. I took a deep breath and nodded. 'Ready.'

* * *

**~Misa's PoV~**

It was two days after Light had informed us of his "proceeding to plan B", and I knew Mikami was back. I heard him talk with Light(s) and Kyo when I came downstairs after a few hours of sleep.

When I opened the door, one cloudy red haze caught my attention. There was no "Light Yagami" floating in that one, nor "Teru Mikami" or "Kyosuke Higuchi". The silence shocked me, since I had thought to hear so much more noise with someone like that around.

'Are you all crazy?!' I exclaimed, running to the table where the little boy lay, inspecting the men in the room with round and curious eyes. _Raito Ryuzaki Birthday_. _739046180_. That's what Light meant with "putting pressure on Iris"?! Kidnapping her son?! He wasn't even a month old yet, I remebered. They're sick, they're all evil, _sick_ people! Carefully, I picked the tiny boy up and held him in my arms. He then fixed his eyes on me, and seeing them was a shock. So _bright_, so _pale_. It's unnatural... but beautiful. Not even with colored contacts could one have eyes this blue, this pale. They were really like a bright blue sky, like ice, only there was no cold in them, only warmth. So much warmth, it made my heart melt instantly.

'Relax, Amane,' Kyo said. I didn't look up at him, but knew he was either grinning or smirking, so long as it expressed his cruel satisfaction at this. 'He'll be returned to his mother the moment she hands us her Death Note, and as you can see, he won't die in decades. And he's too young to be harmed by the Death Note yet, so he'll be just fine.'

'Just fine?!' I exclaimed, only remembering to keep my voice down a bit on the second word. We didn't want the still quiet baby to start crying now, right? 'You're insane, Higuchi! All of you are! He may survive, yes, but think about what this'll do to his health, mentally and physically!'

'As far as I know, he's too young to understand what is going on, so there is minimal risk of traumatizing the kid.' Light put in. 'And with the preparations Yagami has made, he'll stay healthy. Higuchi's right: he'll be fine.'

I glared at everyone in turn, before looking at the table Light was pointing at. Special milk, a a bottle, diapers... okay, they had been prepared for taking care of the boy, I'll give them that. But still... 'And what about his mother? What about traumatizing_ her_? She'll wake up or come back home and find her baby's _gone_! Her son of less than a month old! She's freaking out at the moment, I'm sure!'

'I left a note, explaining where we are and how to contact us.' Mikami answered. 'So far, she hasn't contacted us yet. But hey, it's only six hours ago that I kidnapped him, she'll do so soon enough.'

Okay. Okay... I didn't know Iris, and I had no idea what being a mother was like, but one thing I knew for sure: she'd do anything to get her son back as soon as possible. I trusted her to call us within the next hour, give or take, and soon she'd be here to take Raito back. Until then, I had already decided, I'd take it upon me to look after him. No way I'm gonna let these monsters get near the boy.

Reluctant to even let him go for a second, I (rather clumsily, since I had only one hand to do so) prepared a bottle of the milk, and took him upstairs, away from the others. Once I got him to finally drink a bit -he probably wasn't used to a bottle yet, so he didn't drink until after half an hour- I said softly, 'Don't you worry, little one. Mama's gonna come here for you soon, I promise. Until then, I'll make sure you're okay, all right?' He only blinked at me, not showing any sign of understanding. 'I promise you, Raito... she'll be here soon.'

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**I really don't like Light, Higuchi and Mikami in thisfic, but I'm rather fond of Misa actually... which is why I've decided to give her a role like this, of course.**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	46. Mistake

**This is probably the first long chapter in Iris' PoV I've written in... a while.**

**Oh yeah, school's gonna start again tomorrow... yippee... So probably less updates again...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Iris' PoV~**

Oh my god. Oh my god. This settles it, I'll never sleep again! I went to sleep three hours after putting Raito to sleep, Beyond at my side, reading a book. I woke up several hours later, no Beyond in the room. Not here, not anywhere. I can only guess he's gone off to the Shinigami Realm for some bussiness. After all, the end of all this was getting closer, and he only had like, what, two months left? So it was no surprise to me that he was gone for a little while. No, what triggered the "oh my god", was that when I went to check on Raito, certain that after all these hours (seven hours and twelve minutes, to be exact) he'd be awake, he was... gone as well. Just gone. Disappeared.

_Kidnapped._

The only thing I could find was a letter, a small note actually, written in Katakana. It had one clear message on the front, only two Katakana letters: Ki-Ra. My heart practically stopped when I read that. No... no, please... why has Kira done this, why would Light want to kidnap such a young baby? Kidnapping was more Mello's style... wait, could it be-? No, if it _was_ Mello, he would've left a note saying either that alias, or "M", and definitely not in Japanese. But what bussiness does Light have with me? Why Raito?

Then it hit me. Of course, I was so stupid when panicking. Ryuk had been here only few days ago, and according to Beyond, he had been snooping around upstairs, here. Ryuk was on Beyond's side in the Shinigami Realm, but does that also go for the human world? I guess not, then. No, Ryuk was probably attached to either Light or Misa or Mikami, which means one of them has been here. I cannot see Light doing the dirty work himself when he has servants like that, and Misa, despite loving Light with all her heart and doing anything for him, wouldn't go as low as to kidnap a child of barely a month. Probably also because she was _female_, and (no offense to guys) women tend to have more _sense_ when it comes to little ones than men. They won't do something like this as quickly, if it was to use him as a hostage. They'd do it for other reasons, if at all, but that's not important now. It must've been Mikami then. The reason? It must be my Death Note, hidden in a safe in my closet, behind a fake back and under two layers of steel, protected by a lock of which the key was hidden in one of my books and then a code which I simply memorized, and what was probably what Ryuk had been searching for. They must've bribed him with apples. He'd do anything for apples, I knew. Why they'd want my Death Note? Obviously to either use it for their own wicked ideals, or to dispose of it so it wouldn't affect their own Notes. Easy.

Did you know that if you panic, your judgement is either clouded or you think a lot clearer than normally? Or as I had it right now, the former quickly followed by the latter. It came in handy in all sorts of situations: if you get attacked on the streets and need to think of a way out quickly (knowledge of a martial art like Karate was useful too, though I hadn't had to use it before), when someone else is in danger and you need to think of a way to help them. And in situations like this, when something has happened to your precious little one and you need to figure out why and how it happened before doing something rash.

Should I give them my Note? It's my only connection to Beyond, Raito's only connection to his dad. I wouldn't want him to grow up not knowing his father, and I _couldn't _live without him. But how do I get Raito back without handing it over? Light wasn't that easy to make deals with.

'Iris? Where are you?' Beyond's voice came from the hallway. I barely registered it. 'Hey, Strawberry! Guess what I got?' What he got...? Oh! Could he mean he-? He came in, smiling triumphantically and holding a pure white notebook in his hands. When he saw my face, which I then realized was tear-streaked and I couldn't even begin to guess what my expression was, the smile faded and his face became grim. 'Iris..? Where's... Raito?' The small note Mikami had left was crumpled when I held it out to him, unable to speak. It seems it was only my mind that was really cooperating with me now. He instantly dropped the white Death Note, and hastily read it. 'K-Kira?! What the hell?!'

Well, that's a quick way of translating my thoughts of when I read it. Now, my head was only working on a solution. I couldn't give up the notebook, I just couldn't. Not even for Raito. But letting them have my little boy in their hands? No. Way.

First I'll trick them, then I show them what happens if you cross with a mother. A mother who has both a killer notebook and a black belt in Karate. Oh, I'll show them.

'Beyond, I have a plan.' I stated, my voice extremely emotionless and cold. He looked up, and I could clearly see he was still in the shock-state of this all. 'They want the Death Note in exchange for our son? They'll get it. I've become a lot better at creating fakes than when I made Madeline's notebook, almost ten years ago.'

'So you'll give them a fake notebook?' He asked, looking confused. 'They'll notice the moment they can't see me after touching it. If Ryuk has told them about your notebook, then he's told them about me as well. It won't work.'

I smirked. These wasn't the best of them, but there were some moments when I could outsmart even a genius like Beyond. 'That's the whole point, Beyond! I'll rip out a page of the real Death Note, and use that as front cover! If they touch it, wether it's covered by a layer of pain or not, they'll be able to see you. And if I do this carefully, they won't even notice it, nor that the notebook is just the average thing you can find in nearly every store. Maybe yellowing the pages slightly would do? Maybe I'll have to partially crush the notebook with something, to make it look a bir crumpled and old? Tear the edges a little? trust me, Beyond, I can do this. If you managed to steal that,' I pointed at the white notebook at his feet. 'from the Shinigami King, then I can get our boy back from Kira. But first,' I added as I snatched the small crumpled note from his hands and walking out of the room. 'I'm gonna make a phonecall.'

And thus I called the number scribbled on the back of the piece of paper, and the call was answered by none other than Kira himself. Before he could utter a sound more than "What?", I said, 'Listen, Light Yagami, or should I say Kira instead, I know you, and everyone you work with or have worked with, and anyone with conections to Kira. I have a Death Note in my possession, and know not only all of the names, but also the faces of you and your _comrades_. I could kill you instantly, got it?' There was a snort on the other side of the line, and an amused '_Ah, so it's you, Iris. I was expecting a call way earlier, you know? We were already thinking of what an irresponsible mother you are, but oh well, you're here._'

'Yes, I am. Now, I know you want my Death Note, and since you have Raito, I will agree to that. But know that once I get there for the exchange, and Raito has been harmed in any way at all, I will kill all of you. Wether it's by using the Note or with my bare hands. I'll tell you, I'm capable of that.' Yes, a single blow to the head or a kick under the arm, and you're dead. A quick stabbing-like movement with your fingers, and you can damage one's kidneys. And I had been taught several usefull pressure points as well, two of which were deadly, the others would only knock you unconscious, slight chance of getting (partially) paralized. Oh, how I love Karate...

'So you better make sure he's okay. Now, I would appreciate it if you'd give me four days' time, at most. I might be there sooner, I might not. Unlike you, I might have trouble arranging a flight like that.' They were in Japan, according to the messy Katakana scribbling. I thought Mikami could write small, but it seems I was wrong.

'_You're prepared to leave your son here that long?_' Light answered, unmoved by my threats and slightly shocked over the amount of time I had mentioned. '_Seriously? Well, I guess you have no choice, indeed. Don't worry, the boy's being taken of by an..._' Silence. _'..expert. He's fine. I'm looking forward to meeting you, Iris den Weerden, to see if those threats can be made real. I'll see you then._'

He hung up. The bastard. And who was that "expert"? Misa? The bitch better take care of him well for the time being. I'd need four days at the least to succeed in my plans. But when you make mothers angry, they can do mostly anything.

Which means I can do this.

Oh yes... I'll show them.

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**I wish I really did have a black belt for Karate... would be so cool. Unfortunately, I'm still just a beginner, and I'll be lucky to have the black belt on my twenty-second/twenty-third. But the techniques I've mentioned in here, the kick under the arm for example, is real, and also a real killer. I don't know why we have to practice those actually, since the deadly techniques are forbidden to actually be used... but they're as much fun as the others~!**

**Okay, I've been rambling again, so I'm happy. I hope you liked the chapter, and thanks for reading~!**


	47. Active

**Hiya~!**

**I gotz a new chappy again!**

**And I'm sorry that it's shorter again, but... oh well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Madeline's PoV~**

It was going well, that fake Note-making Iris was doing. Seriously, in all the years I've known her (which is like, ten or eleven years already), I've never seen her work this hard and precise. But since it was to get Raito back from Kira, I understood why she seemed so driven to finish this as good and as soon as she possibly could.

Which is why I was helping her out, like the friend I am. She'd do the same for me, I know. Because that's just what friends do, right? Which is why I've also decided to help Beyond out a bit. With the King-slaying thing. He's getting a bit... nervous. Which is only natural, if you ask me, because what if the King doesn't get killed by his own Note? What if he really _is_ more than a normal Shinigami, truly immortal? Well, Beyond will drop dead the moment he writes down the King's name if that's the case, him and all the other Shinigami who worked against their King. At first I thought things like "what can _I_, not even half-Shinigami (thank goodness) do?" followed by "the good old reassurancing: it'll turn out just fine, you'll succeed..."

Did it help much? Not much at all, but every little bit is at least something. Then there was the task force, who still had BB as prisoner and were after Kira, not knowing that one of the people they sometimes work with is actually going to meet up with Kira in a few days. And we would sure as hell not tell them. The moment you get the police on a case like this, they'll kill the hostage, regardless of the hostage's age.

'Wait a minute-' Iris said, dropping her pen, which was white with this special type of ink she used to write on the black-painted cover page. 'How am I going to be sure this'll work? The "touch the front cover and you'll see Beyond" thing? The paint might well prevent such a thing.' I blinked at her, smiling a bit at her panicked expression. Silly Iris... 'I was gonna ask Damian first, but then I realised he had already touched the other one... the real Note.'

I gave her an amused pat on the shoulder and said, 'Well, obviously, you'll just go outside with Beyond following you, ask a person if they'd hold the notebook for you for some reason -because you need to do...something- and if they scream, drop it and run away: bingo! It works.' It might not be the best idea, but it was the only one I could come up with. And it'd work, wouldn't it? Iris just blinked at me, with an expression like "..what?..", and I just picked up her work to go on with my own notebook-comparing job. Compare the fake thingy with the real thingy... give hints on what she should work on more... and do it again. It was easy, and aparently very helpful. Small details were something I could spot easily, if I tried to.

'The pages can be a bit more yellowish.' I commented. 'And remember how you got your Note on the streets, when it was raining? It must've been soaked, or at least somewhat wet. So if you make those pages a bit damp-'

Without letting me finish, Iris snatched the fake notebook from my hands and sighed. 'Okay. Thanks, Madeline. For that idea as well. I mean, scaring people isn't exactly my hobby,' With a smirk, she added quietly, '_anymore_. But it's the best thing I can do now. So really, thanks.' Before continuing, however, she turned to Beyond, who was trying to book a flight for tomorrow. 'How's it going over there?'

Beyond's wings (which he never retracted when he was either frustrated or nervous) twitched, and he said, 'Well... I don't get things like this these days. I know it's only been like, nine years since I last did this, but I hope you do remember that it was only 2004 in that world. And these things tend to change in seventeen years, you know...'

'You're a frickin' genius!' I said, almost laughing. 'But you can't even book a flight? There's something wrong with you, really.' Did I say _almost_ laughing? Sorry.

Beyond glared at me for a moment. 'Near couldn't do it, either... he was so immature, he needed Rester to come back to America all the way from Japan, only to be on a plane with Near back to Japan a day or so later. And don't forget that it was _L_ who had studied Dutch, not me.'

'You've been here for six years, idiot. You're supposed to get it now, or at least a bit.'

'Will you just shut up and let me do this? I think I get it now, anyway...'

I just kept on laughing. I had always loved making either L, Light or Beyond angry... weird hobby, I know, but did you know that if a genius doesn't understand something simple, and you tease them with it, you get the funniest reactions out of them? You should try sometime! Plus, it doesn't necessarily have to be a_ genius_, someone who's just quite smart is enough already. Oh, the fun you can have~!

And besides, these two were being a bit too serious lately, especially since that damned kidnapping yesterday, and even though they both had good reasons to, some laughter always brightens the place up. Wether you're the one to laugh, or someone else, it's just necessary to do so at least once a day. Idiots like Matsuda, for example, seemed like a nuisance, but ever thought about that if he wasn't there as the comic relief, some of the task force members might've just killed themselves or died because of stress? Maybe L wouldn't have had a heart attack caused by Rem, but stress and overwork, and Soichiro would've died sooner as well, Aizawa might've left even sooner... Mogi? I have no idea...

But once I stopped, I started thinking. Just how much have I been doing lately? Last important, big thing I did was catch BB, but that was... weeks ago, I think? After that... I kicked Naomi L and Nessa out, ordering them to hurry up with finding a house of their own, after having them around became annoying as hell... For all I knew, all the action left now was for beyond and Iris: King-slaying and Kira-catching/Getting son back... what could I do?

Okay, this is a moment when I allow myself to sound childish: _I want to do something, too!_

But... what?

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**This chapter was actually only written because I was thinking myself... "just what kind of role does Madeline still have now?..." I gotta think of something for her, really XD**

**Well, I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	48. Answers

**Sorry for the late update! It's been like what? A week or so? Longer?**

**Well, at least this chapter isn't too short... I think.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Damian's PoV~**

It's been a while since I've last been here, now that I decided it was time I returned to university. And it really felt good to be with my team again, the task force and L. No, I still called him Allen. It was an alias I had grown to think of as my friend's real name, and he didn't mind at all. Of course I had heard about their prisoner from Iris, and Matsuda had told me about it, too, when I spoke him a few weeks ago. But I had never met this "BB" before, and something told me I should be glad about it.

I had also seen the rise of Kira in this world. The moment I heard about criminals being killed off by heart attacks, I knew it couldn't be anyone else than Kira. Hell, that would be obvious to anyone who had lived in that world, no, anyone who knew about the series. But so far, it didn't seem like they had any idea where Kira was hiding, though it was more than obivous _who_ he was.

'So,' I asked Allen, who was staring at a computer screen, looking through so many files it would've almost scared anyone who wasn't used to his weird habits and quick deductions. 'Any idea where Yagami is, or not?'

'None at all.' He answered quickly, not looking up or giving any sign he even knew I was beside him. It seemed he was even more intent on catching Kira in this world than he had been in the other, and how can I blame him? This was a world in which he had made no name yet, except that of a weird anime-detective. He probably felt he had to prove himself all over again to the world. Something that didn't seem to bother his older self, who we just called L, who was here in the makeshift headquarters as well. He might have been helping on the case a little while ago, but now he just sat there, reading a book, bored expression. He didn't even seem to be as driven to work on this as _Misa_ had been, back in the other world, while she had hardly even been part of the investigation at all. I could easily guess what he was thinking: _I've done my work, I've solved cases for a good seventeen years in the past, which was actually like seventy years worth of work for the average person, so I'm allowed to retire. Let the youngsters take over..._ He complained like a woman would, everytime you commented on his age, (he had just become thirty-eight a few days ago, and apparently, Matsuda, Iris and Madeline have had a good time teasing him with it) yet he sometimes acted like an old, retired man forced to work again. The idiot. Had he really once been the same as Allen? I couldn't even begin to imagine it.

He also didn't have his guard up like Allen always had, which I saw as a good chance to ask him a thing or two. However different their personalities were now, he and Allen _were_ one and the same person, sharing the same identity and the same life. The same _memories._

One of my memories, just after having met Allen, still lay fresh in my mind and bothered me. When he and Yagami-san had been watching the Yagami household with surveillance cameras, I had once seen those two on the couch, Yagami-san already fast asleep while Allen was as good as sleeping already, too. He had mumbled quite a few interesting things back then... _"M'job... too stressful... too painful... Never wanted to... I had to."_ From those words, I could only make up he was one day pretty much forced to work as a detective, and that it was a horrible job, which he'd rather not have.

I sat down in front of L, who didn't appear to even _enjoy_ whatever it was he was reading, but just thought something like "well, at least I'll have something to do...", and began, 'Hey, L, can I ask you a thing or two?'

'Depends.'

'About... about your past?' He'd probably say no, though I had a better chance at getting an answer out of him, than out of Allen.

'Depends.'

I blinked at him, surprised. Oh well, might as well... 'Okay... when did you actually start working?'

'Dunno... have always been interested in justice, though. I went to Wammy's on my eighth... I guess, around my ninth or tenth? Why, actually?' He now glanced at me, his black eyes giving me an obvious message: don't dig too deep, there's a price to that. Not one to be paid in money, just so you know.

He'd kill me? Not in a million years, though Iris told me he'd have killed Mello if Naomi hadn't stopped him a few years ago (but Mello had threatened his daughter, who was only five at the time, with two frickin' guns. It was a natural reaction, if you ask me) and would've killed the prisoner, BB, had Madeline not been there. But again, BB had threatened Nessa. So again, he had a good reason for it. I just shrugged, trying to keep it a bit casual. 'Well, I heard Allen say a thing or two about not wanting to be a detective. Is that true? And why?'

L narrowed his eyes, but put the book aside, which I took as "interested in where this conversation/interrogation's going". A good sign. 'Why, yes. Why do you think I quit when I got the chance? No, wait, that's not entirely right...'

'L, don't you dare.' Allen muttered from where he sat at the desk, not looking at us. L just snorted and grinned. 'Oh god, look who's being paranoid again! Aahhh, c'mon! It's not like it'll reveal our identity or something! Besides, he knows who we are, anyway!'

'Still, you-'

'-will tell him. Look, I'm bored, there's nothing I can do for the case at the moment, and at least this way, I'll still be helping _someone_ instead of just being a nuisance. So shut up and let me do as I want. If you had not yet noticed, I'm older than you, which I think means that, since we're still on the same level of intelligence and shit, I think that means I should be the one with authority over you, instead of the other way around.'

'Not if you're a way-too-talkative idiot who has no sense, sorry.'

L glared at him for a moment, then smirked. 'In thirteen years, you'll be as much a talkative idiot with a lack of sense as I am, just so you know.' Then he turned back to me, clearly amused over just having had a disagreement with himself like that. 'Okay, so what is it you wanted to know? Oh, right: the job-thingy. No, I really _did_ want to become a detective, but "the world's greatest" wasn't exactly necessary to me. Also, I had hoped to at least have somewhat of a youth, a normal childhood and normal puberty and shit... but no, Watari thought that, after I accidentally solved my first case, I might as well start full-time. I had wanted to become a detective, yes, but not that early on already.'

'Is that it?' No, that could hardly be the whole problem, right?

'Not really, no. You see, being a world-renowned detective comes with enemies, and at such a young age, that isn't exactly a nice thing to know. I was first kidnapped and tortured when I was eleven. It took Watari and others from Wammy's House a week to locate me, and another three days to save me. Then, a few years later, I got kidnapped once again, buried alive... I almost died then. Eh, let's see... oh yeah, and when I was fifteen, I got shot. Twice. When I was nineteen, apparently I had caused a young boy to commit suicide. And then... a few months before the LABB Murder Case... got shot again, three times right after eachother, in the heart, Don't remember much of it, but I think you can imagine that having just been in a fight, and then waking up on Intensive Care, where people tell you you're supposed to be dead and probably gonna die soon anyway, isn't exactly fun.' He laughed a bit, but I harldy thought of it all as a laughing matter. He was probably just nervous, or maybe even a bit scared at remembering that moment. 'Well, and then there's the usuall stuff: seeing a potential enemy in everyone you come across, especiallly after BB. Not being able to forget a single victim. Being haunted by grief-stricken faces everytime you close your eyes -ever wondered why I was an insomniac?- remembering the reactions survivors had, when I had to inform them that a friend or family member had died... like I said, the usuall stuff.'

I just stared at him, unable to even blink. How could he have such a straight face, after telling me all that? Even for L, the stone-faced steel-mask wearer, that seemed a bit too much. When he saw my expression -I didn't even know what it must've looked like- he just laughed. 'Yup, it was like living in a nightmare! Allen just refuses to see the way out, but I wasn't stupid! Death? Perfect excuse for just getting out of it!'

'Are you done now?' Allen sighed, sounding quite irritated. 'That's enough out of you, don't you think?'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm done.'

Just then, the door opened and Madeline came walking in, holding a little, crumbled note, many things scribbled on it. 'Guys,' She didn't sound too certain when she said that. Maybe sounding a bit guilty as well? But for what? She folded the piece of paper open, and read: '_Watashi wa Nihon ni iru. Kira._ Translation: I am in Japan. Kira. He even wrote the adress and phone number, guys. We got him.'

A shocked silence then fell in the room, as we stared at the girl who was grinning rather nervously. She has Kira's adress?! She has... Kira's adress...

That is just _perfect_.

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**And uh... that's it for this chapter. Yup.**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading. Also, if it's not too much of a bother, and I certainly don't want to sound begging or nagging or something, but reviews would be very much appreciated again. They keep one motivated, you see?**

**...so thanks for reading~!**


	49. Steps

**Sorry for the late update! (not that I think many people are still reading this, though)**

**I'm just losing interest in writing this story, and have too many other ones going on in my head. Not that I won't finish this one, otherwise Madeline'll kill me... but still. This didn't turn out like I had planned to at all. Well, at least my one-shots all did, as well as The Fantasy!**

**So eh... wether people are still interested in this or not, I won't stop writing until it's done.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Madeline's PoV~**

Guilt flooded my mind. I knew this wasn't what I had promised Iris, I knew I was somewhat betraying her... but I am also trying to save the world here.

Yes, I was supposed to keep all this a secret, something I completely agreed with, for it was safest to get Raito back if the police and L weren't aware of her meeting with Kira, but what about the world? For months had this team been searching for Kira, months and months. They knew his identity, they knew his comrades, but couldn't do anything to track him. And now, this message might be the one thing that ould lead the police right to the killer's lair, and end this battle of justice once and for all. In Holland, death penalty was out of the question, forbidden. But since he was in Japan, that didn't matter. We could bring him to whichever country we wanted after arresting him, L controlled every single police force on Earth by now, even here. Well, Allen, that is. Plus, since this was Kira, we could easily make the government make an exception for this mass murderer. He'd be killed soon, and this war would end.

I broke a promise, yes, but what was that little thing, compared to what I would do now? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The world was more important than that. Way more important. Whatever would happen, Iris would understand that, I'm sure of it.

'Madeline,' Allen breathed, stunned as he stared at the little note I had in my hands. 'How-? Is this a joke or something?'

I shook my head, and held the paper out to him. 'It's all true, this is really written by Kira. Or at least someone who works with him.' How much would I tell them? I mean, I had to think of my friend's safety too, and her son's. We know how cold-hearted Light is, how reckless Higuchi, and loyal Mikami and Misa are. They wouldn't hesitate to kill them both if they somehow knew the police would be after them soon, standing on their doorstep...

Soichiro was standing beside me now, too, looking at the Katakana scribbling. After a few seconds, he shook his head. 'That isn't Light's hand... then it must've been someone else, someone who works with him...' He's had a hard time, adjusting to the knowledge that his son was Kira, but by now, he didn't even consider him his son anymore: _Light is dead_, he had said. _Light is dead, and the one living in that body now is Kira. He is no family of mine, and I will do anything in my power to bring him to justice._ He was truly a man one just had to admire, for his dedication, commitment, and strength.

'Maybe it was Mikami or Higuchi,' I brought in. 'Misa is a possibility too, but truthfully, I can't imagine her being able to do all this unnoticed.'

'Do all what-?' Damian -I hadn't even noticed he was here until now- asked. He looked at me with a knowing gaze, as though he was silently telling me he knew there was enough I was keeping quiet right now. That was the one thing about him that wasn't common in the whole den Weerden family, for all I knew. They all had a knack for sensing when someone is lying, or not telling the full truth, but they would make that clear some other way, usually by just straight-forward saying it. No, Damian was the type to tell you in silence, then wait what your reaction would be. You kept quiet, he would, too, and he wouldn't try to get to the truth any other way. Probably because he knew it would come out sometime, anyway, and he had the patience to wait for it. Sometimes he could be just like L, actually. (L the detective, not L the 24/7-complaining ex-detective with a startingly short temper).

'Well,' I stammered, looking away. I had already broken a promise, though with good reason to, but would it be okay if I-? Oh, screw it, they'll find out sometime, anyway. Actually, I was surprised Iris had even managed (and even tried) to keep Raito's kidnapping quiet to her family for three days. Kami dammit, this is her brother, Raito's uncle, it's only natural he would know what is going on with his younger sister! I had several secrets for my family, but I would never keep something like this a secret to my older sister, Alice, or my twinbrother, Richy (he was actually called Richard, but that sounded so unlike him...).

'Well... this message was actually directed to Iris.' I explained. 'They want the Death Note she has in her possession, so they...' Okay, no turning back now. And besides, if you really thought about it, how much would it actually matter that I told them this? 'So they kidnapped Raito, a hostage they want to trade for the notebook. If I'm correct, she's already on her way there, with Beyond. But-'

'She's what?!' And there it was: the detective-Damian got replaced by the worried-brother-Damian. I already expected that would happen. 'Is she out of her mind?! Walking straight into the hands of Kira... that's a trap, if I ever saw one! They'll kill her!'

'They can't.' I interrupted him. 'She's a Shinigami, she can't be killed, remember? Only nature will kill her, not a gunshot, not a wound, not a supernatural notebook. It was like that in the other world, and it's still like that here.'

'Then what about Raito? I mean, the kid was premature, he's only a month old -he was supposed to be born sometime now, not a month ago! They'll kill him for sure... and then Iris-'

I sighed, surpressing a smile. I didn't know him too well personally, but Iris had told me plenty of things about her brother. And him freaking out over someone's safety was actually on the list of "things Damian won't ever do". 'Damian, she isn't stupid! In fact, she has prepared a trap herself.' Now everyone in the room seemed even more curious, listening intently. 'She's gonna give them a fake Death Note, but making it so that they'll have a hard time noticing that little detail. You see, she has a page of the real Note covering the front, so if they touch it, they'll still see Beyond, even if they can't use it. I'll admit, it's not exactly fail-proof, but it'll work. And she has already tested the front page on some unfortunate person she passed by on the streets. He ran away screaming after seeing Beyond, so that part definately works.'

Allen nodded. 'I see. Light's a genius, though... but I'm sure it might work. But she's not planning to kill them, is she? We can't have them dying, that way, the case won't be closed even though Kira's gone.'

'Nah, she's not gonna kill them. Once she's back here, you can go apprehend Kira and everyone else there.' And that's how it would go: Iris would return safely with Raito, Kira will be caught and officially executed, Beyond and the Shinigami would kill their King and then this world as well as the Realm of death would be peaceful. Beautiful end, is it not? Cliche, very much so, but still a beautiful end to this all. I definately hoped that's how it would be.

'Alright then!' Matsuda said cheerfully. 'Let's get ready to apprehend them! The only ones who are Kira are Light Yagami, Kyosuke Higuchi, Misa Amane and Teru Mikami, right? Just four people! We're with nine people, counting Madeline and Damian in. It'll be easy!'

'You don't know if there are any other, though,' L put in, glaring at Matsuda for his stupidity. 'People who joined Kira, people supporting Kira, people controlled by Kira... they're in every world you go to. Some of them might be there, too.'

At this, Matsuda immediately looked less cheerful already. 'Oh...right...'

'But how do we tell apart the innocent, those controlled by Kira, from the enemies?' That was Ide, who had kept himself out of every conversation I had ever seen here. It's been a while since I last heard his voice.

'Why, maybe you need your own pair of Shinigami Eyes for that,' a new voice joined in. At once, we all turned to the owner of it. Beyond -no, B, stood in the doorway to his "cell", his hands still cuffed behind his back. When had he escaped? More importantly, how the hell did he manage to unlock a door when handcuffed? The guy was a mystery, and he would always be. As he stood there, unmoved by the glares he got from everyone while looking at all of them in turn, I couldn't help but be glad at noticing he had at least gained a little weight while kept prisoner here, though he was still severely -almost dangerously- underweight.

'Is it not true you can't see someone's lifespan if they own a Death Note?' He said, not taking any notice of the hostility the task force and L -especially L- showed for him. 'Well, that's one way. There's no way to tell if _everyone_ there owns a notebook, but... like this, at least it'll be _easier_ to tell who's enemy, and who's ally.' He then fixed his gaze on Allen. 'I won't try anything, and if I do, please don't hesitate to kill me right then and there. But give me a chance. Let me be your Eyes in this.'

Silence. That was all his words met. Utter silence. Until L spoke, at the same time Damian did.

'Don't believe him. He's a psychopath, you can't trust him no matter what.'

'I'm not sure, but I think he's right: having someone with Shinigami Eyes on our side would be useful.'

L then glared at Damian. 'You're _not sure_? Well I am: don't trust the freak. Ever.'

'You're just saying that because he tried to attack your daughter,' Allen answered. 'I agree with Damian: B might well be right, and I see no harm in giving him a chance to help us. He said himself, if he does something to us, we can kill him.' He then turned to the task force, who had backed away a little when they had noticed B was here. 'Well? What do you think? Shall we give it a try?'

They were silent, looking at eachother while trying to decide. Soichiro shrugged after a moment, sighing, 'Oh, why not. Even if we said "no", you wouldn't give a damn.'

'Exactly. So it is decided then: make preparations to go to Japan, tomorrow we will depart, and by the end of this week, the case will finally be closed.'

One step closer to that happy end I want. And every step matters.

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**And that was it for this chapter.**

**Hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	50. Return

**I seriously thought I had lost some readers for this fic, but you guys proved me wrong XD**

**I'm so happy~! *insert squeal here* Thank you, everyone!**

**Now, I have good news, and less good (perhaps bad) news.**

**This fic is probably almost finished.**

**But this chapter is the longest one I've written in a while, so I hope you'll enjoy it~!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~Iris' PoV~**

Japan. How long has it been since I've last been here? Months? At the very least, it had been four of them. How I hoped this time would be just because of that strange connection I had to the other dimension, and not because I had to go save my kid from a group of mass-murderers. Damned Kira. Damned Light. Damned Mikami and Higuchi, and Misa and everyone else that has ever worked with them.

But I had to admit they had been quite smart on picking their headquarters. I mean, who'd think of an average house somewhere in a prefecture of Kyoto to be Kira's hideout? Only the super-suspicious, paranoid type of people would suspect _this_. Says a person who has spent years and years watching crime series and reading them, has lived in Death Note and such. I was pretty much _supposed _to know what looked suspicious and what didn't by now. And I mean the things like "if something _looks_ suspicious, it probably is" and "if something looks almost _too_ good to be true, it usually is" and such... This place didn't look too peaceful at all, but there wasn't something like "Kira" written on the walls, either (just take that one a bit metaphorically, m'kay?).

A bit like the hotel rooms L used in the first few months of that case.

Light was just a damned copycat.

I looked over my shoulder at Beyond, who was just behind me, and asked. 'Shall we? After all, they've had Raito there for days now... and I want him back.' He just narrowed his eyes at the door, which I took as a "d'you even need to ask?". So I took a deep breath, and went to the door, knocking on it. Yes, Raito had been away for days now, yes, I remained calm even with that knowledge. But only on the surface, let that be clear. I was nervous, scared, angrier than I had ever been... but mostly scared for what they had done to my little Raito. God, who (except for these apparent fuckheads) was sick and twisted enough to kidnap a baby of just a month old? I had been wondering that for a while now, and couldn't think of anyone that was human. A Shinigami, perhaps, if they had a reason to. Which'd never happen.

Well, the one who opened the door was Mikami, who looked polite as ever. I had always thought of him as one _hot_ guy. And I still did. _But no one's better than Beyond~!_ He just looked at me silently, then nodded and let me inside, slamming the door shut behind me, right in Beyond's face, who dematerialised just in time. As he led me upstairs, Mikami just said, 'You took your time.'

'I guess so...'

'You do have the Death Note with you, as we requested?'

_You call that a request?_ I snarled silently at him, but the words that came over my lips were, 'I do. Though I will not even show it before I've made sure my boy is okay, which I assume you understand.' But he didn't say a word more, as we arrived upstairs and he opened the door, revealing quite some advanced technology stuffed into a small room that served as their investigation base. There were three Lights in there, staring at me and Mikami as we entered, one Higuchi, and one Misa Amane.

One Misa Amane who was holding _my_ little Raito. I clenched my teeth as I tried hard not to look at him, lying calmly in her arms but staring at me with a gaze that clearly said _where were you, mommy?_ It stung, it hurt, it teared my heart to pieces, seeing such young eyes display emotions such as blame. At none other than myself. But for now, I still had to stay fixed on the mastermind behind all the deaths in the world right now. Light Yagami? No, this was no longer Light. This was Kira, no one else.

'Iris den Weerden,' He said, grinning sickingly. 'You're finally here. You brought the Death Note, I hope?' When I nodded, his grin grew wider. God, he had really become a monster. Just when I had been so happy Kira had been killed years ago, he's back. Three times at that. I briefly glanced at the youngest of the three, which was Kira when he first became a murderer. Was that uncertainty I saw in his eyes, as he looked at his older self? My heart began pounding even harder than it already did, a warmth spreading through my chest, chasing away the cold for a few seconds. _It's not too late for him_, I realised._ He can still be saved. That boy is still just Light Yagami... it's not over for him yet._ No, if anyone here wasn't evil yet, it must be him. But Kira... Kira's eyes had that light in them, satisfied and overconfident, thinking he's a god. 'Show it. Right now.'

I stuck my hand in the bag I had hanging over my shoulder, but before I pulled it out, I narrowed my eyes at Kira. 'I will _show_ it, Kira,' I said slowly, letting every word roll off my tongue extra clearly to let the murderer register them just the way they were meant. 'But before I _give_ it, I want my son back. Got it?' Kira just nodded. 'Of course, Iris. Now, I would appreciate it if you'd _hurry up_.'

The moment of truth. Will he fall for it? Will he believe it's a real Death Note? There were no Shinigami around now, no one'd to reveal to him it was a fake unless either he, Light or the other Kiras would notice. My breath stopped as I pulled the fake Note out of my bag, and held it up to let everyone see. So far, not a single twitch of their faces revealed they had seen through my plan now.

'Iris,' Beyond whispered behind me. I tilted my head a little to him, asking, 'What is it?'

'Should you need help getting out of here once all this is done-'

'Use what I learned, I know.' Now, I too was whispering. No need for Kira to hear this, right? Not at all. 'Hit some pressure points to paralise them, but do not kill. I know that, Beyond.'

But he shook his head. 'That's...' A smile spread across his face, hesitating and a bit amused, and I knew in an instant that what he was going to say now was yet another thing he had kept a secret. He cupped his hands around my free one, and said, 'You're half-Shinigami, my Strawberry. So am I. The first time I tried this, you were asleep, so you wouldn't have noticed, but...' He moved his hands away, and at first, I didn't notice anything at all. But then I saw it: my nails... had become... slightly longer? _Claws?_ They were barely visible, but I could even feel they were no longer human nails. I didn't look around, and kept my face as straight as I could, but Beyond understood what question was on my mind now. _What did you do?_

'We Shinigami can... this is something Armonia Jastin once told me... Shinigami can show a half-Shinigami what their body will be like once they die, give something like a, I don't know... "preview"? These might come in handy, Iris. Use them.' He explained. Well, that was cool. Supernatural things never ceased to surprise me, you know?

I recovered my concentration, glad that this had actually taken only a few seconds, and demanded, 'And now, give me my kid back.' I hardened my voice, sounding as cold as I could. _Just think of how you felt when you... were the Reaper. When you killed those people. Feel __**nothing**_. Those memories sent a shiver down my spine, and my stomach did a not-so graceful backflip, it seemed, but it worked. And that's what counts now. Once this is over, I can finally be the worried, stressed mother I currently held hidden somewhere deep down. Finally relieve the pain of the past few days once I held my boy in my arms and were safely on our way back home. But not now.

Misa looked down at Raito, and something like regret flashed in her eyes, but when Higuchie noticed her hesitation and reached for Raito, she quickly took a step away from him and glared as venomous as she possibly could. 'Don't you dare touch this child, _Kyo_!' She spat, before walking to me and carefully handing over my little one, who instantly pulled my hair softly. An affectionate pull on the hair or clothes was, I had learned by now, his way of greeting me when I had been gone for a little while, grocery shopping or something like that. I couldn't help but smile at him, now that I finally had Raito back in my arms. But Misa's stare eventually drew my attention to her instead. 'I made sure he was taken care of, Iris.' She said, giving Raito a brief smile before turning back to me. 'Except for when Mikami brought him here, no one but me touched him, no harm was done to him. I promise. And also-' She leaned closer to me, whispering close to my ear, 'I think you should look at his eyes a bit. His father... is a Shinigami, isn't he?' I froze. How did she-? 'Those eyes the boy has aren't normal, and I think he has some more traits from his dad than just his hair colour.' She smiled at me before going back to where she had stood a few moments ago. Light, or Kira (I think he was from the Movieverse) glared at her coldly. 'What was that about, Amane?'

She just shrugged. 'I just thought, let's give her a hint. Remember last night, when he couldn't sleep and cried all the time? That song I sang for him really calmed him. I just told her that.' And just like that, all the last cold bits in my body warmed up again, and my heart pounded harder once more, but less uncomfortable. Has she really done that for Raito? Did she.. did she really care about him, no matter what short time he's been here? I looked at her, and only a second later, our eyes met, spoke to eachother._ Thank you._

_I did it with pleasure._

Then I turned back to Kira, and took a step toward him. 'Well, now it's my turn, isn't it?' I held out my Death Note, which he instantly grabbed, obviously trying to keep his movements calm. He brushed his fingers almost tenderly over the cover, and my heart skipped a beat. _He touched it! Perfect. _He then looked up, his eyes fixed on Beyond, who stood beside me. Curiosity gleamed in them, and he just said, 'Your Shinigami is... fascinating, Iris. Somewhat familiar, too.' He then held it out to the others, who all touched it in turns. They too seemed fascinated by such a human-like Shinigami, and LLight (the young one) gasped. 'He- doesn't he look a bit like... Ryuzaki?'

Kira blinked at him, then inspected Beyond again. 'Now that you mention it... yes, there is something about him that might resemble L a bit. But-'

'I get that a lot.' Beyond interrupted him. 'And there was a time when I would think it a compliment, if someone mistook me for L. But no, I am Beyond Birthday, no one else.' He looked at everyone one at a time, stopping once his gaze fell back on Kira. 'I assume Iris can go now, now that she gave you that notebook?'

Kira nodded, and opened the notebook. 'Yes, she can go.' Then, he grabbed a pen out of nowhere and quickly wrote in the notebook. My name, I knew. He then looked up at me again, grinning. 'Just to test it, you see? That's all.'

40. 30. 20. 10. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

And I just stood there, even after a minute had passed. Kiras, Light, Higuchi, Mikami, Misa... they all gaped at me, anger evident in their gazes (except for Misa's). 'A fake?! You tried tricking me? _Me_, the God of the world, _Kira_?!' Kira exclaimed, then laughed wildly. 'You _idiot!_ Mikami, bring me the other one!' And there it was again, my name once more written down in a Death Note. A real one this time. I repeated the countdown in my head. _5. 4. 3. 2. 1._ And once again, nothing happened. A grin sliding across my face as I saw their expressions become stunned, almost scared, I held Raito out to Beyond. 'Beyond, would you please take him outside? He's too young to see this.' He held our kid tightly in his arms as he went ahead, smiling widely. 'Good luck, Strawberry!' He called to me before closing the door behind him and leaving this place.

I just narrowed my eyes at Kira, feeling the excitement surging through my veins. That cold excitement, the dark satisfaction as I knew that I now had the upperhand over all of them. 'Just how far did you dig into my past?' I asked slowly, my own voice shocking me. I changed my pose, stood in _hamigamai_, the base psoe for Karate. 'Did you know about my hobby already, or not?' And then, quick as a snake, my hand lashed out in an _urigen_, a sideways blow to the head, hitting Kira with so much force he stumbled backward, dazed by the impact. 'Did you know about what I am, too? I know, I have a name in this world. But did you know that, in the other one where you come from, I didn't?' A _maigiri_, hitting Higuchi squarely in the chest, followed by a _kiyakatsuki_, a hard punch that made him gasp for breath. 'I'm part _Shinigami,_ Kira! I can't be killed!' Mikami, of whom I knew he could fight quite well with all the exercise he always did, tried to fight back, and he actually gave me quite the challenge when Movie-Kira joined in. The oldest of the Kiras was still unstable on his feet from the blow I gave him to the head, and Light had backed away to a corner of the room, seemingly scared. Misa and Higuchi were nowhere to be seen. But after I kicked Movie-Kira in the stomach and flashed my fingers against one of Mikami's pressure points, making him go limp and fall to the ground, I heard a loud _bang_, followed by a flash of pain I hadn't felt in six years. Not since that one night, the last night. For a moment, I staggered, but then I just swung around and dived on Higuchi, who was holding the gun that had shot its bullets through me, and ran my brand-new claws down his face, cutting deep into his skin. He let out a scream of pain, and I gave him a last, hard punch in the face, knocking him unconscious, before tackeling Kira and doing the same to him. Without the unconscious-part. Let him feel the damned pain, the burning stings of deep cuts criss-crossing your skin. After that, I went and collected all the Death Notes I could find, stuffing them into my bag before throwing it back over my shoulder.

But before I left, an idea took over in my head, an idea I just had to act out. With the little bit of blood I had on my nails (claws, whatever), I scribbled a few familiar letters on the door, in ancient Greek, just like back then.

_The Reaper._

This has been her last time. Her last show. My last minutes as The Reaper, a cruel identity I thought I had left behind me years ago. But today, she had crawled back to the surface, once again taking over my body and mind.

But this time, I wouldn't regret a second of it.

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**Well, in The Fantasy, The Reaper kinda fought against Kira (in her own, weird, creepy and sick way), and so she did again.**

**But this was really the last time Iris' murderer-side comes in the story... I kinda liked the concept of Reaper, personally. But that's just my weird taste, I guess XD**

**Thank you for reading, and I hope you liked it!**


	51. Soon

**Sorry for the late udate, I wanted to do two chapters in one day, but the second one took me some time to even begin writing it XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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Once I got back outside after the battle I've had, I saw there were more people there than just Beyond and Raito. Misa stood there too, talking to Beyond, her head held low. As I approached, I could hear what she was saying.

'I've realised for a while now, that Light... isn't Light-kun anymore.' She confessed. 'But how could I leave? He'd have killed me. But now-' Once she caught sight of me, the small girl instantly went quiet again, glancing at me briefly before facing the ground, seemingly ashamed. 'Iris...' She quietly said, carefully and nervous. 'I- I'm sorry for what Light did, with Raito and all. I want you to know that... I would nev- i-if I'd have had a say in it all, we would've never kidnapped him, and...' She trailed off, drawing her shoulders up even more. She didn't even look up a single second after that.

_She's scared of me, _I realised. After all, she's seen my outburst of a few minutes ago, attacking everyone she's been living and working together with like a crazed beast. I bit my lip, suddenly feeling guilty after all, and reached out my hand. Misa flinched as I laid it on her shoulder, but I just did the one thing that I hadn't planned. Gave the girl a big hug like I haven't done in a while. 'Misa, just shut up.' I said, laughter sounding through my voice. 'I don't blame you for anything. No, quite the opposite.' I looked over her shoulder briefly, at Beyond, who was smiling as he watched, still holding Raito. The boy seemed fast asleep. 'Thank you for taking such good care of him. Really, I don't think I can thank you enough for that.' When I said this, she finally relaxed a little. And when I let go of her, she was smiling like the cheerful girl I had once seen in that anime series I so loved. She glanced around, at Beyond and Raito, and then back at me. 'Well, can I ask something of you?' She said, her voice still quiet with hesitation. 'Can I... can I come with you? At least until we're finally out of Japan and away from Li- Kira? Please?'

'You don't even need to say "please"!' I answered. 'Right, Beyond?' Of course, he agreed with me. Then something hit me: hopefully, L (Allen, whichever one) would do so, too. I really wanted to spare her that execution she would've faced if she stayed here. Same goes for Light. That boy is still just the teenager from the beginning of the series. Where Kira has already lost his reason and lost sight of his once noble goal, this Light still hopes to make the world a better place, and ruling it as a god is only on the second -no, third- place. Purity, happiness, then comes power. And did he not look scared by his older self, as well? _I hope they will agree to let these two live..._

As though they actually heard my thoughts just now, my cell phone suddenly rang, and I picked it up quickly. It was Damian. Oh shit... how am I gonna explain not being home, but somewhere outside of our country, in _Japan_ of all places?! But once he spoke, I found that wasn't even what he called for. '_Iris? Are you still in Japan?_' How did he know? _What do you think,_ I told myself, amused._ Madeline once again couldn't keep a secret._ Why didn't I care at all? 'Yes, I am. Why?'

'_Good. Stay there. We're on our way to Kira's hideout now._'

They were what?! 'You mean- you're here? Here in Japan?' I exclaimed, disbelief unabling me of speaking on a normal volume. God, I think I practically screamed. Though, had I done that, Raito would've woken up, and he'd start crying like usuall. Since that didn't happen, maybe I didn't. But I just couldn't believe it... 'And who's "_we_"?'

'_The whole gang. Me, Allen, the task force, Madeline, and that B-guy.'_ Even BB? Wow, they really brought an army to catch Kira. I just assumed that was what they were planning. My heart fluttered. No, this wasn't what my plan had been like at all, but if Kira'd be caught today, the case would be closed t_oday_...

Then only the Shinigami King remained. And he didn't even have his Shinigami-killing notebook anymore. No, that was Beyond's posession now. And everything... everything would turn out just fine.

Every world, I thought, was a story of its own. And in the end, however long it will take to reach that end, does not every story have a happy end? Yes, this happy end may come for one only after their death, maybe after several reincarnitions, but there will be a time for every story and every soul, that they will be truly happy. That's what I feel.

And the happy end for this world is only days away.

'That's-!' I began, but was cut off by my brother. '_I know, I'm sorry. But when Madeline came in HQ with that note, Allen just decided to catch Kira as soon as possible. By the way, where are you right now?_'

I smiled. 'I'm still in front of their hideout. I kinda kicked their asses and then ran off with every Death Note I could find. Ehm... let's see... Movie-Kira became scared after I attacked him, Light hid from the start, Mikami is temporarily paralised, Kira is pretty hurt as well, and Higuchi was still out cold when I left. And trust me, he will be for quite some time yet. So if you get here soon, you won't have any trouble apprehending them.'

Damian just started laughing, and kept doing so for well over a minute before he finally said something like "okay, see you in a few hours" and hanging up. Again laughing, of course.

After that, I asked Misa if she knew a place we could stay until the others got here, and went there. Some sort of park, it seemed, but pretty darn small.

And we waited.

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**The next chapter is up, too.**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it~!**


	52. Onward

**To be quite honest, I'm not really content with how this chapter and the last one came out, but rewriting it would take too long XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

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**~L's (Allen) PoV~**

Today. Today was the day we would finally bring an end to this case. Last chapter, end of the story. End of Kira.

Or, the end? No, his execution would still be days away. But it would come. It was a strange feeling, knowing that I was about to do the one thing all the other versions of me and my successors were unable to. We would not only close the Kira case, would would bring him to justice in a righteous way. A fair trial, fair judgement, and eventually execution. No matter what, he would most definitely be executed. He, Higuchi, Mikami, Misa and every other accomplice he might have.

Kira would not only die. We would bring him to justice.

Thousands of murderers have been executed due to my actions, thousands of cases were solved by me. One even more imprtant than the other, but not a single solution had felt like this. Of course, how could I not feel relieved about the fact that this mass murderer would disappear? But I... quite honestly, I felt sick. It was as though I was completely new to this job, as if this were my very first case ever. But not even then did I feel like this, with my first case. It was... something I had never experienced before.

But still, I had been looking forward to this day. Me, Damian, the task force and everyone else. And today it would finally happen. That is, if everything went according to plan. And yes, coming here, we had been a little rash and not exactly planning anything. But still. And we had BB with us, and I was sure his Eyes would come in handy. And even if they were not needed, which was a good possibility, I was glad he had come with us. I mean, if he helped us with this, I was sure the other L would forgive him for what he had done, and he would also no longer be a criminal in the eyes of the task force members. Quite honestly, I had wanted to set him free a while ago, but couldn't because of the others. If he did this right, he would be... he would finally be free again. No longer held captive by us, or by his own past. He would finally be really free, and perhaps I could even get my old friend back, the one I've had to miss for years, ever since A's suicide.

This day would definitely mark the start of a new age, at least to me. No more Kira, no more loneliness. No, since this world knew me already, why still try and hide myself? I would gladly work together with police forces from now on, not hiding behind a computer screen and scrambled voice anymore. A new beginning.

'Something the matter, L?' BB asked from his place in the car, still handcuffed. Startled, I looked around. Since when had someone called me by my name last? It's always just an alias. Ryuzaki, Allen, and all the others. Only Watari and B had ever called me by my real name. I hope... I hope that will change as well. 'S-seriously, L, what's up with you?' B sounded almost worried now. 'You've been staring out of that window for minutes now, not saying anything and all...'

'Eh...?' I just blinked at him. 'I did?... Oh.' Then I just shook my head and said, 'No, I'm fine, really.' Silence, until Damian felt he should join in the conversation as well, together with Madeline.

'Allen,' Damian said flatly, giving me a mostly emotionless stare. 'Something's definitely up with you, it's obvious.'

'Obvi..ous?'

And that was Madeline's cue, apparently. 'You just smiled. At B. Are you ill, perhaps?'

What the hell is wrong with me, really? It's not like this is my first case, after all! Like I said, I've solved thousands and thousands of cases already! Then why... 'N-nothing's wrong, really! I'm just-'

'-Nervous.' Came the amused voice of Aizawa, who was driving the car. He had gone back to Japan a while ago, but when we contacted him to tell him about our plan to capture Kira here, he had waited for us at the airport. 'Honestly, Ryuzaki, I actually believed people called you world's greatest detective for a good reason, because you could solve any case thrown at you without even blinking once... there were plenty of rumours saying you were a computer or a robot, or just had some kind of severe aspergers syndrome or something else, what caused you to be highly intelligent and stoic at all times...'

Why, that's not all wrong. I mean, I was never tested for something like aspergers or some kind of autism, but I'm not stupid. It's damn obvious. Only thing is, those who have aspergers can't make social contact easily, thus often giving the impression they don't even care for social things. They don't know how to handle strong emotions, so they hide them from others in an attempt to hide it even from themselves. Or at least, that's how it is in my case. (A/N: I have aspergers myself, so this is basically how I feel it. If it is any different from others with this syndrome, then my only explanation is; everyone experiences it differently.)

But I just shrugged. 'So what? This is my biggest, most dangerous case so far, and it's finally coming to an end. I've never spent over a year working on a single case yet, so it is just a bit surreal now that it's almost closed. That's all.' _That is,_ I added silently. _I hope that's all._

It took us only little more than thirty minutes to get to the park Iris was now, with Beyond and Raito (she had texted it to Madeline), and there we started making more detailed plans on how to catch Kira and his followers. Oh, I forgot to mention, my eyes practically popped out of my head when I saw Misa with Iris and her Shinigami partner, and I had to have her tell me like three times, until I actually believed what she asked of me (Iris, that is). She wanted to spare Misa and "the youngest Light", for their souls were still not corrupted like those of the others there. 'Light even seemed scared of Kira,' She explained, looking from me to her brother and then Madeline, and back again. 'So please, take only Higuchi, Kira, Mikami and (Movie?)-Kira. Not him.' After saying that, she looked over at Soichiro-san, who was standing a little back. Obviously, she wanted to know what he thought of it. 'I-is that okay, Yagami-san? from what I've seen, that kid... that's still just your son, not a mass-murderer. Of course, it's your decision, but... see for yourself, judge for yourself. A little rehabilitation, perhaps a quick and good psychiatric treatment, and he's just your son again, I think.'

Soichiro didn't seem so certain, and tons of emotions flashed in his eyes. Who could blame him? In his heart, he's had to forsake his son and every last scrap of hope to get him back. and to now be told that there is still hope left somewhere... it must be hard. I gave the other L a quick glance, hoping he didn't notice. _He_ was a father, too. Was it easier for him to imagine what Soichiro was feeling now, or is it still something you must experience yourself? A normal life... well, perhaps that L was right. Perhaps I should give it a try as well. Maybe.

Planning. More planning. Until we had everything decided.

We would leave right now, the whole team. That is, me, L, the task force, BB and Damian. Madeline decided to just stay with Iris, Beyond and Misa until it was over. We would go for Higuchi, Mikami, Movie-Kira and Kira, and a mock-arrest for Light. We would release him the moment he would convince us of his... innocence? No way. That... other thing. How the hell do you call it, really. He wasn't innocent, he was... yes, that was a good name for it. "Purity".

Well, on to the end, then.

* * *

**Hope you liked it, and thanks for reading~!**


	53. Light

**Well, even though this chapter is maybe a bit short, I'm extremely satisfied about how it turned out. I find it better than I thought it would be, personally.**

**Also... even OBA is nearly finished now. I think there's only one or two more chapter in it for this fic, including the possibility of an epilogue (which will most likely come). And I thought it was a strange feeling to end The Fantasy... at least I still had a sequel to write then! I'm sure most of you readers know that feeling, when you've been working on a story (even if it's a fic followed by a sequel, and perhaps another one) and you actually end it eventually. It's... weird.**

**Kami, I think I'm getting emotional, even! Don't, Blue, there's still some things to write left!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Light's PoV (Kira)~**

_"It's over."_ Those were the words meant to be spoken by me, no one else than me. Yet, they came from _his_ mouth. "_Your days of murder will stop here, Kira. It's all over."_ Who had come up with a story like this, anyway? A story where the bad guys win? No, I should have won, I should have created that perfect, peaceful world I had been striving to create. Murder? I call it judging, purification of this rotten humanity. I should have won, not those so-called detectives, L and L2, and the police force, that Damian-guy. I should have killed them when I had the chance. L and L2 would have been a hundred percent sure about me being Kira if I did, of course, but that wouldn't have been a problem. I had three people with Shinigami Eyes at my side in the past months, not to mention that I had even been willing to kill them old-school style if I had to. Stabbing, running a bullet through their heads. That's the least they'd deserve, those damned...

_"We will allow you a fair trial, but I doubt the outcome will be any different than without one."_ Why didn't that surprise me? Despite having Kira-worshippers in this world, there weren't even half as many as in my original one, no, not even a quarter. If I got caught now, I'd be executed instantly. If only I'd have had some more time to get more followers here...

"_Good thing Iris has dealed with them already, isn't it, Chief?"_ Chief. Yagami-san. Perhaps even _father?_ No. Never. Not anymore. That man was never my father. His son had been that foolish Light Yagami, that boy that had thought he could change the world by himself. No, he had _needed _Higuchi, he had _needed_ Mikami, and several other pawns as well. That was the true Kira: not a lone fighter for justice, just the one person leading a group of devoted judges who all worshipped him as a God. Okay, Higuchi didn't give a damn about justice (perhaps I should have killed him after all), he only cared about power, money and status, but he had been extremely useful. Mikami, that justice-obsessed, deletion-loving Kira worshipper. Really, had my mind been working any differently than it did, considering them as nothing but pawns in my actions, I might not've thought of him as _Mikami_, but _My-Kami_. No, not in that way. It's just... I couldn't have come nearly this far to achieving my goals if it were not for him. If God had a right-hand man, it would've been him. To Kira, that is.

_"Good thing Iris-"_ Iris. I should've... No. I couldn't have killed her, not in any way. I had written her down in _two _Death Notes, but she survived. And though the blow she dealt me had unbalanced and dazed me, I hadn't failed to see how Higuchi had shot the girl, _in the chest_. Any normal person would've dropped to the floor in an instant, either spluttering blood out of their mouth while fighting for the breath they would never again draw, or dead before they even hit the ground. But neither had happened to her. No, her face had showed only that it _hurt_, that it _just hurt_. A bit. Then, when she scratched me, (scratched, of all things. What, was she a cat or something? Would explain things, if she had nine lives...) her nails had not been ordinary nails, they had felt way sharper and cut much deeper. Claws. What in the world was she? Then I remembered her words:_ "Did you know about what I am, too?" "I'm part Shinigami, Kira!"_ Part Shinigami? I had never heard of such a thing, not once. But now that I thought about it...it might actually be true. Did the same go for that Shinigami of hers, that... Beyond-something? He was a human before, he had said, and he looked like it, too. How had he become a Shinigami, if he hadn't been one in the first place?

As I sat in the car that was being driven by chief Yagami, handcuffed and strapped to the seat, mussled so I was unable to even speak, I tilted my head as far as I could, and stared outside. Sunset. Had the sky always been this red at sunset, streaked with gold and pinkish-orange? Had the sun always radiated this much light, sending warmth over the Earth in its last moments of this day, before it would be replaced by the moon?

Replaced... by the cold.. moon.

It was the pronunciation of my name that was Light, sunlight, warmth. But in reality, it was _Moon._ Cold, its silver gloom being no more than a mere reflection of the sun. Was I nothing but a mere reflection of the true warmth of this planet? A false light, fake justice? If I was, then who was the sun? _L_? Surely not. He may not've done things like I had, like Kira had, but he was far from pure and right himself, despite fighting so hard to serve the bit of justice present in this world. If neither L nor Kira was this world's light, then who was? Or was it not one person... but did it radiate from all of us? _All_ of us, every single living soul that walked the Earth? That includes the criminals I wiped out, those who I had yet to pass judgement on (had it not been the end of my "reign" now), those who I have been fighting against with all my might for defying me? Even... me?

That was a question to remain unanswered forever. Or perhaps the answer lay in Heaven, or Hell. Wherever one could find it, I would never know. Never. So I decided not to think about it anymore, either, and just watch this sunset while it lasted. _How had I failed to see how beautiful this world already was...?_

* * *

'Light Yagami,' the judge's voice rang through the room, where a silence hung over every other person present. 'You have been charged with the murder on, dare I say it, so many people we have given up counting them, while going by the alias "Kira". What have you to say in your defense?'

I looked up at her, a fairly old woman with small glasses, her hair tied into a tight knot and her eyes full of disgust as she looked at me, Kira the mass murderer. My lips twisted upward, not into a grin, nor a smirk. A genuine smile. How long has it been? If I had ever showed a true smile, that is. I truly didn't remember. 'In defense? Not a single word, not even a letter. I am Kira, and I have killed all those criminals and more.'

She blinked, surprise shining in her dark eyes for a moment before she gestured to the three people standing few feet behind me, also handcuffed, just as guilty. And with their chin held just as high. 'And these men were your accomplices in your work? Higuchi Kyosuke, Mikami Teru and...' She paused a little before speaking the last name. 'Light Yagami?'

I nodded. 'Indeed, they were at my side, passing judgement by my orders.'

The judge let her eyes travel over each of them and asked, 'Does any of you deny this?'

'No.'

'Absolutely not.'

'It's true.'

The whole room was still silent, and when I saw the judge blink once, twice, saw her mouth move as they formed words I did not register, time seemed to slow down, while the silence felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders. Which was lifted when the words came, the words I had been expecting. _"..guilty. Each will be given death-sentence for their crimes. Case closed."_

* * *

And now, it was time. Kira was no more. Light Yagami was no more. The moon that had casted a shadow over this world would be driven out by the true light. And as my last seconds were being counted down in silence, I once again thought...

_Who or what is the true light of this world?_

The answer lay in Heaven, Hell, or wherever afterlife would be. But I would never find it. Because...

_Those who use the Death Note can go to neither Heaven or Hell._

* * *

**They go to Mu. Once dead, one can never come back to life.**

**I wanted to include those, but felt it was better to end this chapter with the "neither Heaven or Hell" thing.**

**So now, it's just the Shinigami King left. That will be the next chapter, then~!**

**I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!**


	54. New Future

**Wow, this chapter ended up longer than I expected :)**

**After this, there's only one chapter left and then an epilogue, with small things about their future and such... and then the Fantasy and One Bridge Apart are finally completely done! Is it alright to be proud of myself? XD**

**But I have already planned a new fanfic, and have started writing it already as well! It's going to be a crossover this time, so you won't find it under the Death Note section. It's called _InkDeath_, and it a Death Note/Inkworld trilogy fic. (Perhaps you know it; Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke. Truly some wonderful books!) I hope that one will be interesting!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

**~Beyond's PoV~**

The last day I would live, had everything gone the way the Shinigami King wanted it to. Now, all I could hope was for everything to go according to _my _plan. After all, if I failed today, my life would be over once again, and now permanently.

So failure was no option. Has it ever been?

No, never. I just hoped that succeeding now would be as easy as it looked from here on. Just walk up to the King, write his name down and then be all like 'oooh jolly, I killed a Shinigami so now I can live~!'

Okay, maybe not that.

Nervous but confident, that's the easiest way to describe my feelings now. By all the gods to exist in this world and all the others, I was about to kill the King of the Death Gods. I certainly hoped Armonia Jastin had been right about him being mortal as well. I had purposely waited till the last day I would have to fulfill this "job" the King gave me, killing another Shinigami and such. I wanted to be sure that if I failed today, I wouldn't have to wait long in anticipation of my own demise. No, I wanted it to be done fast should it happen.

I never thought I'd say this, but, I'm really grateful to Dalil for telling me the King's name. It was some ancient language, something most "new" Shinigami didn't know and what the older ones had practically forgotten. A language they ones spoke here, ages and ages ago, before the human world developed and they started copying those languages. It was a common thing for Shinigami these days to know at least five different languages, usually English, Chinese, Arabic and two of their own choice. But learning a new one wasn't all that hard to them, which was why they so thrived in whatever place of the world their notebook fell in, should they drop it.

The letters in this language were even more complicated than any Kanji I had ever seen, and I thought some of those looked like weird little drawings already. But Dalil had taught me quite a bit about it, and I knew the four things I had to write down for the King so well now, I could do it with my eyes closed, flawlessly. So that would be no problem.

I first met up with Armonia, Rem and Dalil, the htree in charge of this whole thing alongside me.

'It's finally time, isn't it?' Jastin said, his golden jaws shifting a bit. It looked weird, but I knew by now that that was his way of smiling. If you have no skin and no lips, displaying emotions must be hard, I think. 'Time for some King slaying!'

'Indeed,' I nodded, flashing him and the other two a short smile. But my mind was quite absent at this point. What if I failed? I knew the answer to that, but what would happen to Iris and Raito, and the others...? What if I did succeed, but they actually did want me to be the new King? God no, everything but that. I would be honored, of course, but that was the one thing I didn't want. If I have to be a Death God, then so be it, but don't make me rule over them as well. No, my choice would be obvious: Armonia Jastin or Rem, either one of the two. Both would do a great job, and the Shinigami's bad name in the human world miht even be cleared again, if they got the others to stop killing the innocent. After all, in a way, Kira _had _been righteous: giving a human that position simply wasn't, after all, humans are to easily tempted by power to lose their sanity. Light had been a great example for that. But if a real Death God would do the judging, as one would expect us to, then there would be nothing wrong with it. We'd just have to be careful not to kill out of love or other feelings, for that would be our own end. God knows what the Shinigami's purpose once was, but I'm sure we can get back to that.

Dalil slowly shook her head, an expression of disbelief on her face. 'I still can't completely believe that someone is actually going to kill the old man,' she said, with a voice that almost held something like sadness. 'I mean, he's been ruling over us for as long as I remember, and that's one hell of a long time. Still, I think what you're doing -what _we're_ doing- is in fact the right thing. It's just...'

'Surreal.' Rem added when Dalil failed to finish her words. I could completely understand their feelings. We all were against him, but since he's been the one in charge around here for close to an eternity, it's only natural that the thought of him dying must give them mixed feelings.

'And the reason why...' Dalil continued. 'I understand, of course, but it's so... I really thought that, if this ever happened, it would be because of something else than, well..._this_.'

Unconsciously, my lips twisted into a smile. '_Si rex me relinquit, ego regem relinquo_.' I answered, looking at the dark, unmoving clouds. 'If the King has forsaken me, I will forsake the King. It's as simple as that.' Yes, Iris has taught me quite a bit, and honestly, Latin was a beautiful language to say things such as this in. If I remember well, these particular sentences were part of a song, a soundtrack for some anime series that Iris once made me listen to. I changed only two words, though. _Si deus me relinquit, ego deum relinquo._... a beautiful song, but so terribly sad as well.

We stayed silent for a moment, Rem and Dalil nodded at what I said -I bet they would've, even if I hadn't given a translation to my words. Hell, anything I'd say now, the would agree- and after that, we went of together, onward to the King.

To the end.

To victory.

Salvation.

It took us only a few minutes, flying there. And when we arrived, the King let out one of his icy breaths, before speaking with his low, echoing voice: 'I did expect you here, Beyond Birthday. However, Rem, Dalil Ghiroza, Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason... may I ask what you are doing here?'

Faking respect, we all kneeled down for him. 'Well, my King, we came to see the execution.' Rem explained, her voice so different from what I was used to. So... lacking the usuall pride. 'I hope you will allow us.'

'Ah, yes. The execution.' There was a hint of amusement in the King's ominous voice now, cold satisfaction, even colder than Kira had been. He was evil itself, in my eyes. 'So, Beyond Birthday, I take it you have decided to give up your life, then? Since you haven't killed anyone yet?'

'Not exactly, my lord,' I answered slowly, the hand I had on my back pulling out his pure-white notebook now, and a small tool the Shinigami used to write with. It was unlike any pen or pencil, paint brush or even charcoal you could find on Earth. The colour it left was blacker then the dakest of nights, or whiter than snow.

'Oh?'

I glanced at Nu, whose many eyes were fixed on me, following my every movement. 'You see, my King,' I went on, standing up now, flipping the notebook open... 'You seem to have a lack of proper security these days,' I raised the writing-tool, placed it on the paper. The King now seemed to understand what I was about to do, and his massive form twitched and turned to Nu. 'Stop him!'

'But King,' Armonia Jastin interrupted as he too stood up, his weird grin again on his face, his gem-eyes twinkling with unhidden satsfaction and even joy. 'It is impossible for you to stop him, according to your very own rules. After all, the task you gave him was to kill a Shinigami, and no one is allowed to stop him as he so tries. Also, you might have wanted to consider specifying _which _Shinigami he could kill, and which he _couldn't_.'

The King let out a low, threatening growl, and I quickly wrote down the first half of his name. Roughly translated, his name would be Death. What an original name, isn't it?_ Oh Death... _And the third letter. 'Nu, I told you to-!' He roared.

But Nu didn't move an inch. Instead, she spoke, 'Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason is right, my lord. You have never specified which Shinigami Beyond could kill. Killing you is completely legit. I cannot stop him, even though I wish I could.'

_Death, none can exell... none can escape..._

Would I really become the new King? I would hope not, but somehow, the thought didn't scare me as much as it did anymore now.

The very last letter slowly came on the paper, it all felt like it happened in slowmotion.

'And the _end_ is here...' I whispered, then looked up. Unlike with humans, the Death Note didn't take forty seconds to take effect. It didn't cause a heart attack either, though I had not specified a cause of death.

The King slowly seemed to crack like a rock, crumble, turn to a sand-like substance...

...and then dissolved, turned into nothingness, disappeared.

It was over. I had done it.

A silence swept over us, as slowly, more Shinigami joined us here in this barren place, surrounding the now-empty throne, as if at a call. It finally dawned on everyone: they were free, they no longer had a King to rule over them like a dictator of death, like the old King did. Eventually, Armonia Jastin came to stand by my side, looking at me intently. 'A throne shouldn't be left empty like that,' he said. 'And I think it is obvious who will be taking place in it from now on.'

I smiled. 'Indeed,it is very obvious,' I answered, kneeling down in front of him, 'my King.' Then I looked up, and had this situation not been as serious as it was, I might've laughed at his expression. For all it could display, it was pure disbelief, shock, surprise. Seriously, had he not guessed I would do this? His golden lower-jaw clattered up and down a bit, wordlessly, until he found his voice back. Amusing words, and no more than a whisper at that... 'I-I was refering to you, Beyond.'

'Yes, I know. But I'm not.' As I said this, Rem and Dalil kneeled down for Armonia Jastin as well, followed by Sidoh, Gook, Callikarcha... eventually, everyone had decided to recognize the golden Shinigami as our new King, even Nu (though being made out of eyes, there was no way for her to kneel like the rest did).

To my amusement, the usually so calm and intelligent Death God was now dumbfounded by this, lost for any words. So I decided to speak instead of him. 'Armonia Jastin Beyondllmason, as you can see, everyone here accepts you as our new King. No one has more potential than you.'

'W-well, i-in that case...' he answered, uncertain of himself now and lacking all the confidence he usually possessed like no other. 'I... it's an honor...I-I.. thank..you..'

I just couldn't help but smirk now. 'Now now, is that nervous attitude really how a King should behave?'

Armonia blinked at me (really, no skin, but able to _blink_? Shinigami were still mysterious creatures) then nodded. And instantly, the surprise faded to make place for an expression that showed both gratefulness and confidence, and instantly he had this air of authority back over him. 'No, you're right.' He turned around to face the other Shinigami, chin held high like the old King had always done, but his face expressing so much more warmth than the ice-cold face of the King. When he spoke again, his voice was strong and rang over the empty wasteland with pride and confidence. 'If this is what you expect of me, I would be honored to take the place of King in this Realm.' he said, and a warmth spread through my body. Yes, he was definitely the right choice. 'For this is the start of a new age for our kind, I think it is time for change in the way we work. First of all, let's _work_.'

At this, two different kind of reactions rose from the crowd. Those who didn't understand, and those who stated to be too lazy for work. Armonia seemed to supress a chuckle as he explained. 'Have you all forgotten our purpose? To guide those destined to die to Heaven or Hell? That is one of the few rules of the Death Note: it is not only used for taking lives, but also, if you write the name of a just-deceased person down, you can addd either "Heaven" or "Hell", and that will seal the fate of their soul. Have you all forgotten our noble work?'

So that's what they exist for, what _we_ exist for. The other Shinigami now mumbled their agreement, as they either understood their new place in the world's balance, or recalled the old days of serving fate. Armonia continued, 'Also, it might not be a bad idea to see if we can do something about this barren place. I remember a time, a time before the old King went cold and corrupt, when this place was as beautiful as Earth used to be before the humans ruined it. Lush, green, _alive_. Let's bring back the warmth, shine a light evenon this place. Let's give a whol new meaning to the word Death together!'

Everyone started cheering as they already looked forward to the new future, and I went to stand beside Armonia. Beside the King. 'That went well, didn't it?' I said, and before he could answer, added, 'I knew you would be the right person to take over as King. I would've had the same intention as you, just not the knowledge or the authority to make it happen. No one has more potential than you, I already said so. And as you can see,' I looked over the Shinigami, who looked so much different from the Death Gods I had known until now. 'Everyone accepts you. You'll do a magnificent job, King.'

His lower jaw shifted again, and his eyes narrowed gratefully. 'Thank you, Beyond. I hope my ideals will be made true one day.'

'They will. death will be known as nothing but peaceful and warm before you know it.'

Now, all that remained for me was to go home, to the human world. For whatever happened to this place, the human world would always remain home to me. For all eternity and beyond.

* * *

**Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you liked it! Also, sorry that this chapter was so late!**


	55. Epilogue

**The very last chapter!**

**These are basically just a few drabbles about the future of the whole gang. Some are a bit crackish, like that of the Shinigami Realm (no, way beyond crackish for that one XD), others less so. I hope you like them, and hopefully this will be a good way to end this, as some of you seem to call it 'series' (so happy every time I read that~!)**

**Thank all very much for reading, reviewing and liking this story! All the positive reviews are the only things that kept me writing this fic until the end, really!**

**Oh, and at the end of this, I have a small preview for my next fanfic, InkDeath~!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Only my OCs are mine.**

* * *

_Three years later -2024_

**L, Naomi, Nessa**:

'But _dad_!' a loud yell came from inside a rather small house. It seemed just big enough to accomodate the family of three living in it, yet none of them ever complained about there being not enough room. 'I'm _fifteen_, don't you think I can decide for myself who I can and can't date?!'

An equally loud an yelling voice instantly answered, 'Oh, _sure you can_! You can hang out with anyone for all I care! Hell, be it a man or a woman, I _don't care! _Just not my _successor_!'

Amused by this whole scene playing in front of her, the mother in this family stepped in between the two, smiling as though she hadn't even heard them, or noticed how the two's eyes were practically burning through the other's skin. 'Now now, if you so want to fight about wether it's okay or not for Nessa and Near to date eachother, you can do so, but please keep it down. We don't want the neighbours complaining again, do we?'

Instantly L and Nessa went quiet, but didn't even seem to dare stop glaring at eachother. It was a life or death match to them. Well, sorta. More of a battle over authority. Naomi shook her head, amused, and sat down to see how this would continue. Would L be able to keep his father-status, or was this really the day he'd have to let go of the hope his daughter still listened to him? Naomi had accepted the fact that her little girl was no longer a little girl and wanted to live her own life more and more these days, but it's common for fathers to hang on to the "she's _my_ little girl! Back off, boyfriend-typo-guys!" a lot longer than mothers did. Apparently, not even the world's greatest detective was an exception to this rule. Minutes passed by, and more minutes after that, and still neither of the two had moved or made a sound. Until, after about forty minutes, Nessa stood up and walked away after saying, 'I have a date with Near in a few minutes, so I'm leaving. Oh, and dad?' she added, looking over her shoulder and smirking. 'If I want to kiss him, I will do so. See you later~!'

It was only after she had left and Naomi and L heard the door close, that L let himself admit defeat. Shoulders drawn up, he stared at the floor, and Naomi came to sit beside him. 'Oh, she'll be alright, dear. She will.'

A long silence passed before L finally answered.

'The white asshole better take good care of her, or I'll make sure he will _never_ take Allen's place!'

Yeah, we all believe you, L. We all do...

**Allen, BB, Damian:**

Yes, indeed. The three started working together as a detective-team. The world's best detective, the world's greatest criminal (who didn't have to rely on a notebook) and the world's... er... yeah, you know where I'm going. Damian has no significance at all to the world, except that he's one third of the world's greatest crime-fighting team _ever_.

Also, since he promised himself to do so, Allen is now less reluctant to go public (though still not showing his face), but it's 'selfish' (quoting BB) to appear as only an L. So what did they do? LBD, perhaps? It was an idea, but they quickly stepped off of it when a only slightly drunk Matsuda pointed out it could be taken the wrong way in some languages, apparently...

BLD? DBL? DLB?

Tch, how unoriginal. No, neither of those. You can think, well, why not use their surnames instead? Because only one letter would change, that's why. And 'W' could be seen as 'Watari', which was wrong, since there was no such person as Watari working with them.

In fact, they were still arguing over what their alias would be.

'I see we need to use your alias!' BB said as he hung back in his chair, licking cherry-flavoured jam off his fingertips. Yes, cherry, I mean come _on!_ Strawberry is _so 2023_. Plus, if it was strawberry flavour, he would have to constantly fight Allen over the last jar. Turns out the guy only likes _real_ cherries, so this was a good alternative for BB. 'And get a fourth person with a 'C'. Then we get ABCD!'

Damian just sighed, rubbing his temple. 'Aren't you just cherry-high again, B?'

The younger man glared at him, slowly moving his jam jar closer, holding it protectively against his chest. 'Maybe... maybe not. Who knows?'

Allen sat on the other side of the room at a desk, which he planted his forehead on while sighing. 'Why did I agree to working with you guys...?'

A question which BB and Damian had to answer several times a week -no, a day- and the answer to it was something they had rehearsed by now, so they said it at exactly the same moment everytime Allen 'asked for it' (again quoting BB).

'_Because we're awesome, now shut up and work!_'

Yeah, sometimes they can be slave-drivers... but hey, so was Allen himself, so why not?

**Shinigami Realm:**

'OOOOOOOOHHHH MYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOODD!'

It rang through the whole Realm, which was slowly being covered with grass, and where the clouds were once again moving around instead of fixed in the sky. It made several of the Shinigami look up in fear from the, dare I say it, _work_ they were doing (just give them a building, suits and a library and they'll be like the Kuroshitsuji-Shinigami XD). Franctically, they were looking around, trying to find the source of the yowl. 'Wh-what was that?' Deridovely asked, his emotionlessness wavering more than just a bit. Gook, who was there as well, didn't answer. Instead, he just kept looking around, his gaze halting as he saw a small cloud of kicked-up dust in the distance. Pointing to it, he nudged Derdovely and Callikarcha. 'Guys, I don't know what that is, but doesn't it look like it coming closer?' The two others just nodded, and together, they waited for the quickly-approaching dust-cloud to come close enough to reveal what was causing it.

And soon it did. Of course...

It was _Ryuk_.

If there was anyone who had really took his chance and changed drastically, it was that guy. He sometimes acted more human than Beyond could, even more so than some _humans_. So human, it was beyond human. And beyond Shinigami. Beyond _natural_. That simple. He was coming closer to the three other Shinigami so quickly, it was nearly scary even to them, and he was doing so in a bouncy way of running that reminded the three of little overly-excited human girls in a sickingly pink dress with more flowers on their head than hair.

Trust me, that sight may be cute when it really _is_ a little overly-excited human girl in.. well, you know what I mean...

But when it's _Ryuk_...

...I so hope this mental image will not cause any nightmares, trauma or mental damage. If it did, I do not take responsibility for it, wether it really _is _my fault or not. Anyway, on with the story:

'GUUYYYYYSSS~!' Ryuk called cheerfully, so cheerfully it was scary. It's like he was on drugs or something, but no, amongst all the things now growing in the Shinigami Realm there were no drug-like plants at all.

Callikarcha fixed his row of eyes on Deridovely and Gook (one on each side... that three or four eyes per Shinigami, I guess? It's a creep) and whispered on a scared tone, 'I think I know what this is about...'

Yes, Ryuk's "little treasure" was no secret in the Realm, something he had gotten as a spontaneous present from a human girl, Madeline Greene, one day, several months ago. He had put it in the ground and hadn't left it's side ever since. But now...

'IT'S IN BLOOOOMMMM~!' He jumped at the three Shinigami, laughing and giggling like crazy, and the three only just managed to avoid getting glomped by this poor excuse of a Shinigami.

Deridovely shook his head, annoyed, and went back to work without even giving the now-crashed-into-the-ground Ryuk a single glance. 'It seems his apple tree is finally in bloom, then,' he sighed.

'ALL HAIL MY APPLES~!... and the King...' Ryuk cheered, his mouth full of remainders of the dust that once covered this place.

Well, we could have guessed something like that would happen...

**Watari, Roger Ruvie, Soichiro Yagami:**

Well, these three... what can I say? Watari will always be Watari, looking for new prodigies around the world, and Roger won't ever leave his old friend, even if he hates kids. Why Soichiro joined them? Nobody knows but himself. Probably because he wanted to make sure Watari wouldn't screw up more little kids' minds by putting them under too much pressure. Anyway, together, this trio has created a new Wammy's House, and yes, in Winchester. And yes, the kids use aliases, some even letters. Only with Soichiro's help, these kids won't be antisocial, sometimes psychopathic and/or suicidal insomniacs that have one or even several addictions.

This is probably what a normal day in modern-Wammy's is like:

'Y! Y, where are you!' a young boy of about eleven, maybe twelve years old ran through the corridors of the orphanage he lived in. Y was his twin sister, and they were supposed to get private lessons in psychology in less than seven minutes, only she was nowhere to be seen. He had searched all her usual places, and the huge garden, but no, she wasn't there. Not even a boy he was certain was her boyfriend, or at least almost, G, couldn't tell him where his sister was. Slightly panicked, he knocked on the very first office he saw. But when he heard what voice it was telling him to come in, he regretted it instantly.

Why roger? WHY?!

He shook his head and went inside, nervously. 'Uhm, mister Ruvie...'

The Roger-monster, as one of the teachers (a boy of like sixteen years old, Mello) called him, looked up grumpily. 'Ah, X. What is it I can do for you?' X swallowed nervously. 'W-well, I can't find Y anywhere, and we're supposed to have private psychology in less than six minutes.'

The sound of an elderly man clearing his throat somewhere behind made the young boy jump, startled. He turned around to see Watari, founder of the orphanage, standing in the open door. 'May I correct you on that, young X: it is not psychology you're having, you have biology from miss Nikaido next. I found Y searching for you upstairs, so I sent her over there already. Now, I think it is best for you to hurry, hm?'

'Ah! T-thank you, mister Watari!' X exclaimed, running off in a hurry. Why couldn't they get a normal timetable in this place, instead of constantly having different lessons at different hours each day? As he was running, he could only think once again, _how long will it be before I become a teacher here myself?_ The girl that was gonna teach him about viruses today, Maki Nikaido, was only fifteen years old and thus nothing more than a child herself. Well, the youngest kid in here must be that Thai kid, 'Next'. He was only one year older than Y and X, but was already teaching maths. He was truly awesome, solving things that even Watari, an ex-inventor, had trouble with. He hardly spoke any English, though, or even spoke at all.

Because of his running combined with not paying attention, he bumped into someone and fell backwards on the ground. When he looked up, he saw Soichiro Yagami standing over him, smiling kindly and holding out a hand to help him back up to his feet. 'Thank you, Yagami-san,' X said, ready to run off again, but a hand stopped him. Why did he call him Yagami-san, while this was England? Simple: because everyone here knew he was Japanese, and one kid started it, the rest followed. By now, you knew no better than to adress him with a Japanese suffix (same goes for Maki Nikaido, by the way). 'Why the hurry, X?' Soichiro asked kindly. He was much like a father to everyone in here, even the older kids that worked here, like Mello and Matt and Maki (geesh, so many 'M's in this place!), and it was impossible to dislike him. 'You still have plenty of time left, and you know that Nikaido-sama doesn't mind if you're a few minutes late. So don't rush it, okay? You might fall again and actually hurt yourself next time.'

'Yes, I will. Thanks again, Yagami-san!'

The man just nodded, again smiling, and walked away calmly. And so did X.

**Others:**

How much more is there to tell? The Japanese task force continued their work as usual, and had all moved back to Japan (except Soichiro, of course). The rest of the Yagami household had moved to England along with him. Sayu and Sachiko were doing just fine there. Light, the one that had remained alive, has had some serious therapy along with Misa Amane, and they now lived in England as well. As a couple. Believe it or not, it's true. And Light did so willingly, not forced by anything or anyone. As said earlier, Matt, Mello, Maki and Thai-Near (now known as Next) worked in the Wammy's House. Mello taught... I know, unusual subject, but it _Wammy's.. _criminality and weaponry. Like, how to handle guns and how to avoid being shot or stabbed in battle. Er, let's just call it self-defense class, right? Matt taught the kids all there was to learn about hacking, for their investigations. Let's just hope he doesn't teach them to smoke and game all day as well, though. Maki did biology, Next maths.

For the den Weerden family, things hadn't changed much. For the Greenes, there had been no change either. Well, there will be, soon enough...

**Iris, Beyond, Madeline, Raito:**

'He did what?!' I exclaimed, my mouth twisted into such a wide smile it almost hurt. As answer, Madeline held her hand in front of me, wiggling her fingers up and down while grinning. 'Hold still, for goodness' sake!' I said, grabbing it. 'I can't see it that way!' Gosh... that was... a beautiful ring...

Yup, she got her boyfirend back after a, er, 'pause' in their relationship with all the trouble we've had a few years ago. And look at that, they were engaged now! 'So, when's the wedding?' came Beyond's voice from behind us. Both Madeline and I jumped in shock, startled by him as we were. He sat down as well, adding, 'Congratulations, by the way.'

Madeline and I both laughed, tough I must admit I was curious as well. But she shrugged, answering, 'Not decided yet. But somewhere before the end of this year, that's for sure!' Well, that would have to be withing five months, then. So best to pick a date soon, Mads!

Suddenly, a small voice sounded from the table on the other side of the room. 'Finished it!' Only a second later, Raito came happilly bouncing over to me, holding a few sheets of paper (a mere three) and climbed up onto my lap. 'And I liked it, mom!' I smiled. I had tried my luck on writing a small book for little kids instead of my usual stories, and since Raito could read already (with a family like mine, it was impossible not to read at such a young age already) I had asked him to see if it was good enough to bring it to publishers. I patted him on the head and smiled. 'I'm glad you liked it, sweetie.' Suddenly, he pointed to something outside the window. 'Mommy, what is Bart doing in our garden?' Who? I looked at the person he was pointing at. Oh, just some kid delivering the newspaper. And that's just what I told Raito.

Yes, Misa had been right about his eyes. They were indeed Shinigami Eyes, only nicely disguised in a bright blue instead of red. The little boy then climbed from me over to Madeline, who started explaining her news to him. He cheered and hugged her tightly, and I couldn't help but laugh. I know that's what every mother thinks of their kids, but he was quite the beautiful boy. Raven-black hair like Beyond, the same pale skin, bright and pale blue eyes... his face was a bit like mine. In my opinion, I wouldn't have minded if he was a blue-eyed version of Beyond, but alas, he had to look like me as well, it seems.

I then looked at Beyond for a moment, inspecting him while Madeline and Raito started having a conversation about everything and whatnot. He had changed a little. The most obvious change were his eyes: the golden tint lining his irises and pupils were brighter and more obvious now, while his pupils were now obviously becoming more like slits, like a snake or something. I had noticed that a while ago already, like four years, but it was only since a few months that I was really certain of what I saw, and that I wasn't imagining things. Also, the lines marking his skin had become a darker shade of orange-gold, becoming more prominent as well. And if I wasn't mistaken, his skin was getting a little rougher as well. I couldn't have expected much different, seeing as he was nearly halway through his second decade as a Shinigami, but I had hoped all these things would've stayed invisible for a little while longer. Oh well, no one who knew him really cared, and much to my parents' surprise was Raito not scared of him at all, even though he could sometimes look like a snake/bat-human hybrid sometimes. No, the kid just thought of his dad as "cool"... he was too much like me in personality, I think.

But everything was peaceful, and everything went right.

Sometimes I couldn't help but think,_ Kira, is this the world you wanted to create? _And then I could also not help but feel that it was indeed thanks to him, at least partially.

It was true what Near had said, so long ago: the Death Note was the worst murder weapon in history, capable of destroying and ending so many innocent lives. But Kira -no, Light- had been right as well. It was also capable of cleaning up the mess humans could make.

After all, if it were not for Death Note, the world wouldn't be the same as it is today.

_**~*The End*~**_

* * *

**Was it acceptable as an end? I hope so! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you will like my other fics as well!**

**Preview for InkDeath:**

_Words are the sole things as powerful in this world as humanity itself, for a single word can bring joy, and pain. It can bring comfort, it can hurt. Messages of love, and those of hate. Every life starts with words, and a single one can end it just the same._

_But only few of us know that it is not the human that writes the word, it's the word that writes the human._

_These few people are even more afflicted by the law of words, but also have the power to alter that law. They posess god-like powers, and are known as Silvertongues, named after their art. While we make a word breathe, they give it a beating heart, give it life._

_But there are as much demons as there are gods, and the Silvertongues are no exception to this rule. You have the pure Silvertongues, those who only wish to make the world a better place for everyone, and the corrupted ones, those who want nothing more than power and recognition._

**There wasn't much Death Note in this part, but I hope it seems interesting! You can also check out _Inkdeath Note: Origins_ by _LittleMissDragmire_, which it will be based on and can be read as the prologue to InkDeath ;)**


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